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The importance of Alan Griffin to Syracuse — a reflection of his larger, expanded role from earlier this season and his development as more than a pure 3-point shooter — flashed Saturday on two consecutive possessions in the second half. He’d checked out seven minutes earlier with four fouls. The Orange were up 11, but Boston College trimmed a double-digit deficit to seven. But Jim Boeheim reinserted Griffin after an Eagles timeout. 

In his first sequence back, Griffin rose to contest a Steffon Mitchell 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down — forcing the ball to knuckle through the air and miss its intended target. On the next possession, Griffin picked Boston College’s entrance pass into the high post and tore off in transition. He rose just inside the free-throw line, split two defenders and floated a layup in, creeping the Orange’s lead back toward double-digits.

Nearly two months ago and 300 miles east in Massachusetts’ Conte Forum, Griffin connected on 6-of-9 3-pointers but turned the ball over six times. Nearly 70% of his shots came from behind the arc, mirroring a day when Syracuse broke its program-record with 16 3-pointers.

But Syracuse isn’t that type of team anymore, for better or worse, and Griffin isn’t that type of one-dimensional player. The Orange connected on four 3s early in the first half on Saturday, then hit just one the rest of the game — including none in the second half. Still, even as they struggled to put away Boston College (3-13, 1-9 Atlantic Coast), the ACC’s worst team, they managed to shoot 48.1% and used another interior-based approach on offense to pull away. Joe Girard III, despite going scoreless in the second half, led Syracuse with 16 points, while Griffin chipped in 14 to help the Orange (12-6, 6-5) defeat BC 75-67 for their fourth win in six games ahead of an opportunity for a Quadrant-1 win next week in Louisville.

“We’ve been up and down a little bit,” Boeheim said. “We have to get great movement, we have to get great shots, and we have to knock down some shots to be successful. But we have to play a lot better down the stretch than we did today to be able to win.” 

For SU — entering the final stretch of ACC play and needing every win to inch back close to the bubble and back into the NCAA Tournament conversation — opponents like BC reflect potential tune-ups on paper, chances to flip season-long problems and correct them before other conference teams can take advantage. That’s what having only seven scholarship players available and one conference win will do for a team’s label. 

The Orange took advantage early on. Griffin opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with Buddy Boeheim and Girard also connecting from long range in the early minutes. It helped create a 10-0 SU run and created a similar tone to the one SU used against BC earlier this season, the same one that made 15 3-pointers against Rider and 10 against Bryant rung, too.

Marek Dolezaj had 13 points and four fouls in Syracuse’s win over Boston College. Courtesy of Dennis Nett | Syracuse.com

After those games, Boeheim fielded questions about whether this was a great shooting team — perhaps his best ever. “Let’s see,” he said. It was only five games into the season. Boeheim knows SU has guys that can consistently shoot and consistently make, but the next 17 games provided answers.

Syracuse has topped 10 makes from beyond the arc in a game just once since, and the answer’s continued to emerge. It did again against Boston College, this time playing with defensive adjustments that switched everything to man defense instead of sitting back in zone. CJ Felder’s 3 halted the Orange’s opening run, and he scored seven of the next nine points for BC, a roster without two of its top scorers from the first meeting this season.

“We had to drive,” Boeheim said. “They didn’t give us any open looks out there.”

That meant the Eagles needed to rely on double-digit rebounds, and a consistently greater presence on offense, from Mitchell and Felder to make up for the absences. Felder, the 38th-best 2-point shooter nationally at 67.9%, per KenPom, converted a 3-pointer, a dunk and a jumper from the high post during his run to keep BC within striking distance.

When the occasional Rich Kelly 3-pointer mixed in with foul trouble for Griffin and Marek Dolezaj, it created a blueprint for Boston College to prevent the Orange’s lead to escalate out of hand. Dolezaj headed to the bench with three fouls before the final media timeout, and Griffin joined him before the first frame ended, too.

But even after closing the gap to five with three minutes left in the first half, another scoreless drought from Boston College extended across halftime and allowed SU to build it back up. This time, though, they did it without the 3-point makes, or even the 3-point attempts.

“We have good enough shooters to where, if we get outside, obviously the defenses are going to change and try to push up,” Girard said. “And that’s what allows us to get inside the paint and throw it to Quincy, Marek or those guys down there.”

Kelly hit a 3-pointer at the 17:30 mark to halt the drought, and poor shots from Kadary Richmond and Girard — a deep 2 and pull-up 3-pointer, respectively — helped BC’s slow, methodical comeback attempt to continue when paired with layups from Mitchell and Jay Heath.

But after Boeheim called timeout when BC pulled within six in the second half, Syracuse started to attack inside. Dolezaj drove on three possessions, spinning around the Eagles’ defender in the high post before drawing a foul and converting on a pair of layups. Then, Buddy backed his way inside, too.

Heading into the final media timeout, Felder was called for a personal foul and a technical foul. He sulked over to the Boston College bench, his jersey folded up and pressed against his stomach, and fell into a seat behind the basket. Griffin and Dolezaj converted the four free throws, and Syracuse extended its lead back into double-digits, back to a point that — even with a late BC rush keyed by its press — withstood.

“They’re pretty good defenders, and the best way to beat them is to get it inside,” Boeheim said of the Eagles. “That’s not a strength of our team, unfortunately. So the only way to get it there is to drive it. And that’s what we started to do.” 

Boeheim’s right: Throughout the season, the Orange struggled inside at times. Syracuse collapsed against Pittsburgh and nearly collapsed against Georgetown that same week. 

But there have also been the games — most notably its best win of the season against then-No. 16 Virginia Tech — when Syracuse scraped by without any 3-point shooting. Without the string of shots that result in points accumulated quickly. It worked for them then, and it worked again Saturday against the Eagles. The final five games will answer whether it’s a sustainable strategy going forward.

Published on February 13, 2021 at 4:15 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew