Two teams in desperate need of a win will face each other when Syracuse visits Boston College on Wednesday night.
Syracuse has lost three of its last four games to fall to 15-8 for the year and 6-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Just last week, Syracuse officials announced a self-imposed postseason ban that will keep the Orange out of the NCAA, NIT and ACC tournaments.
Boston College (9-13, 1-9) has lost four consecutive games. The Eagles' last win came on Jan. 25 at Georgia Tech. Since then, Boston College has run into the teeth of the ACC, playing Lousville, at Clemson, at Notre Dame and North Carolina.
Tonight's game will be a rematch of a meeting at the Carrier Dome on Jan. 20. Syracuse came away with a 69-61 win despite a late-game collapse that allowed to Eagles to cut the Orange's 15-point lead to just six in the final minute.
Syracuse's six ACC wins have come against teams with losing conference records. Syracuse is 0-4 against teams currently .500 or better in the ACC.
Boston College is one of just two teams left on Syracuse's schedule that is below .500 in the ACC. The other is North Carolina State, which will host Syracuse in the last game of the regular season (and the entire season for Syracuse) on March 7 in Raleigh, N.C.
Here are five things to watch as Syracuse takes on the Eagles:
Christmas' time on the court
Rakeem Christmas has played every minute in six of Syracuse's last seven games. The only game in which Christmas didn't go the distance was the Orange's game against Boston College on Jan. 20. Christmas
played just 23 minutes against the Eagles after getting into foul trouble and eventually fouling out.
Syracuse needs Christmas to stay out of foul trouble because he should be able to dominate against Boston College's frontcourt. In just 23 minutes in the teams' first meeting, Christmas still managed 12 points and seven rebounds.
Christmas has been Syracuse's main man all season. He's scored in double-digits in 20 straight games. He's had nine double-doubles.
And he's been on a roll lately.
Christmas has had double-doubles in three straight games, including a 23-point, 12-rebound performance at Pittsburgh on Saturday. He leads the ACC in scoring, averaging 20.0 points in conference games. He's third in rebounding at 9.8 in ACC play. And he leads the league in blocks per game at 2.5.
Oh my, Olivier!
What Rakeem Christmas is to Syracuse, Boston College guard Olivier Hanlan is to the Eagles.
Hanlan is having an All-ACC season. He ranks third in the ACC at 19.9 points per game, putting him behind only Christmas and Louisville's Terry Rozier. Hanlan is also second in 3-point shooting percentage and seventh in assists.
And, like Christmas, Hanlan is on a roll.
He scored 28 points in a loss at Notre Dame last Wednesday and 30 points in a loss to North Carolina on Saturday.
Hanlan is closing in on the 1,500-point plateau. He currently has 1,486 points, which puts him 16th on the school's all-time list.
In its win over Boston College last month, Syracuse limited Hanlan to 13 points. He struggled from the field, hitting just five of his 14 field goal attempts. But he was a major concern for the Orange and the main subject of the team's scouting report leading up to that game. He will be focus again tonight.
Close shaves
If it feels like Syracuse has been playing in a lot of close games this season, that's because the Orange has.
In its 23 games, Syracuse has been in games decided by four points or less or in overtime nine times. Only one other ACC team (Virginia Tech) has been in as many games decided by four points or less.
A comparison of Syracuse and Virginia Tech shows just how slim the margin of error is for teams that aren't dominant.
Syracuse is 15-8 overall and 6-4 in the ACC. The Orange's record is due in no small part to its success in close games. Syracuse is 6-3 in games decided by four points or less or in overtime.
Virginia Tech is 9-14 overall and 1-9 in the ACC. The Hokies are 2-7 in close games, including a pair of two-point losses to Syracuse.
And Syracuse's opponent tonight? Boston College has played in eight games decided by four points or less or in overtime. The Eagles are 2-6 in those games.
Boston College's 3-pointers
Boston College has a perimeter-oriented offense. The Eagles get very little production from starting center Dennis Clifford or his main backup, Will Magarity.
The Eagles' reliance on outside scoring becomes even more apparent when going up against Syracuse's 2-3 zone defense.
In Boston College's loss to Syracuse, Clifford and Magarity combined to score just one point. Meanwhile, the Eagles' guards made a season-high 10 3-pointers.
Syracuse won because the Eagles needed 29 3-point attempts to make those 10 long-range shots. For the game, Boston College made just 31 percent of its field goal attempts, going 16-for-51. That's six made shots inside the 3-point line.
The Eagles probably won't be that one-dimensional again tonight, but Syracuse is still going to have to extend its zone defense and contest the 3-pointer.
Syracuse's rebounding
Syracuse has not rebounded the ball well this year, especially in ACC games.
In conference play, Syracuse ranks 11th in rebounding margin. The Orange has a rebounding margin of minus-1.9 per game.
However, tonight is one night when the Orange needs to own the boards.
Boston College is even weaker on the boards than Syracuse. The Eagles rank 14th in the ACC in rebounding margin at minus-5.4.
Syracuse didn't do a good enough job of pressing its advantage on the glass in the teams' first meeting. In its 69-61 win, Syracuse had 37 rebounds to 35 for Boston College.
Part of the problem was that Boston College took so many 3-pointers (see above), and missed 3-pointers have a tendency to become long rebounds. That gives the offensive team a slight edge in getting to those rebounds.
But Syracuse had only eight offensive rebounds in that game despite making just 44 percent of its shots. The Orange missed 28 shots and got only eight offensive rebounds. Rakeem Christmas, Tyler Roberson and Michael Gbinije combined for two offensive rebound. Chinonso Obokoh equaled all three as he got two offensive boards.
Syracuse has lost three of its last four games to fall to 15-8 for the year and 6-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Just last week, Syracuse officials announced a self-imposed postseason ban that will keep the Orange out of the NCAA, NIT and ACC tournaments.
Boston College (9-13, 1-9) has lost four consecutive games. The Eagles' last win came on Jan. 25 at Georgia Tech. Since then, Boston College has run into the teeth of the ACC, playing Lousville, at Clemson, at Notre Dame and North Carolina.
Tonight's game will be a rematch of a meeting at the Carrier Dome on Jan. 20. Syracuse came away with a 69-61 win despite a late-game collapse that allowed to Eagles to cut the Orange's 15-point lead to just six in the final minute.
Syracuse's six ACC wins have come against teams with losing conference records. Syracuse is 0-4 against teams currently .500 or better in the ACC.
Boston College is one of just two teams left on Syracuse's schedule that is below .500 in the ACC. The other is North Carolina State, which will host Syracuse in the last game of the regular season (and the entire season for Syracuse) on March 7 in Raleigh, N.C.
Here are five things to watch as Syracuse takes on the Eagles:
Christmas' time on the court
Rakeem Christmas has played every minute in six of Syracuse's last seven games. The only game in which Christmas didn't go the distance was the Orange's game against Boston College on Jan. 20. Christmas
played just 23 minutes against the Eagles after getting into foul trouble and eventually fouling out.
Syracuse needs Christmas to stay out of foul trouble because he should be able to dominate against Boston College's frontcourt. In just 23 minutes in the teams' first meeting, Christmas still managed 12 points and seven rebounds.
Christmas has been Syracuse's main man all season. He's scored in double-digits in 20 straight games. He's had nine double-doubles.
And he's been on a roll lately.
Christmas has had double-doubles in three straight games, including a 23-point, 12-rebound performance at Pittsburgh on Saturday. He leads the ACC in scoring, averaging 20.0 points in conference games. He's third in rebounding at 9.8 in ACC play. And he leads the league in blocks per game at 2.5.
Oh my, Olivier!
What Rakeem Christmas is to Syracuse, Boston College guard Olivier Hanlan is to the Eagles.
Hanlan is having an All-ACC season. He ranks third in the ACC at 19.9 points per game, putting him behind only Christmas and Louisville's Terry Rozier. Hanlan is also second in 3-point shooting percentage and seventh in assists.
And, like Christmas, Hanlan is on a roll.
He scored 28 points in a loss at Notre Dame last Wednesday and 30 points in a loss to North Carolina on Saturday.
Hanlan is closing in on the 1,500-point plateau. He currently has 1,486 points, which puts him 16th on the school's all-time list.
In its win over Boston College last month, Syracuse limited Hanlan to 13 points. He struggled from the field, hitting just five of his 14 field goal attempts. But he was a major concern for the Orange and the main subject of the team's scouting report leading up to that game. He will be focus again tonight.
Close shaves
If it feels like Syracuse has been playing in a lot of close games this season, that's because the Orange has.
In its 23 games, Syracuse has been in games decided by four points or less or in overtime nine times. Only one other ACC team (Virginia Tech) has been in as many games decided by four points or less.
A comparison of Syracuse and Virginia Tech shows just how slim the margin of error is for teams that aren't dominant.
Syracuse is 15-8 overall and 6-4 in the ACC. The Orange's record is due in no small part to its success in close games. Syracuse is 6-3 in games decided by four points or less or in overtime.
Virginia Tech is 9-14 overall and 1-9 in the ACC. The Hokies are 2-7 in close games, including a pair of two-point losses to Syracuse.
And Syracuse's opponent tonight? Boston College has played in eight games decided by four points or less or in overtime. The Eagles are 2-6 in those games.
Boston College's 3-pointers
Boston College has a perimeter-oriented offense. The Eagles get very little production from starting center Dennis Clifford or his main backup, Will Magarity.
The Eagles' reliance on outside scoring becomes even more apparent when going up against Syracuse's 2-3 zone defense.
In Boston College's loss to Syracuse, Clifford and Magarity combined to score just one point. Meanwhile, the Eagles' guards made a season-high 10 3-pointers.
Syracuse won because the Eagles needed 29 3-point attempts to make those 10 long-range shots. For the game, Boston College made just 31 percent of its field goal attempts, going 16-for-51. That's six made shots inside the 3-point line.
The Eagles probably won't be that one-dimensional again tonight, but Syracuse is still going to have to extend its zone defense and contest the 3-pointer.
Syracuse's rebounding
Syracuse has not rebounded the ball well this year, especially in ACC games.
In conference play, Syracuse ranks 11th in rebounding margin. The Orange has a rebounding margin of minus-1.9 per game.
However, tonight is one night when the Orange needs to own the boards.
Boston College is even weaker on the boards than Syracuse. The Eagles rank 14th in the ACC in rebounding margin at minus-5.4.
Syracuse didn't do a good enough job of pressing its advantage on the glass in the teams' first meeting. In its 69-61 win, Syracuse had 37 rebounds to 35 for Boston College.
Part of the problem was that Boston College took so many 3-pointers (see above), and missed 3-pointers have a tendency to become long rebounds. That gives the offensive team a slight edge in getting to those rebounds.
But Syracuse had only eight offensive rebounds in that game despite making just 44 percent of its shots. The Orange missed 28 shots and got only eight offensive rebounds. Rakeem Christmas, Tyler Roberson and Michael Gbinije combined for two offensive rebound. Chinonso Obokoh equaled all three as he got two offensive boards.
