It took just six minutes for the Syracuse men’s basketball team to defeat Boston College on Saturday. Six minutes to score 21 points. Six minutes to hold BC scoreless. Six minutes to completely deflate a team that up until that six-minute span was tied with the Orangemen.

No. 17 Syracuse defeated Boston College, 96-73, in the Carrier Dome in front of more than 22,000 fans. The Orangemen employed a tough man-to-man defense and a full court press to propel their 21-0 run. At 10:24 in the first half, the Eagles tied SU at 19. At 4:01, SU led 40-19.

Boston College rode its leading scorer, sophomore Craig Smith, early. Smith scored eight quick points – all from inside three feet – before SU switched to the zone about eight minutes into the game. From then until the end of the half, BC only scored 12 points.

‘We wanted to clamp down and make it hard for them,’ said SU forward Hakim Warrick.

Gerry McNamara led the Orangemen with 26 points – including 11 of SU’s 13 in a two-minute stretch in the second half when Boston College threatened SU’s lead. Four of the five SU starters scored in double figures, including Warrick’s 19 and guard Billy Edelin’s 17 points. Forward Josh Pace had 14 points and four steals.

After the Eagles cut the lead to six points with 10 minutes left in the second half, Syracuse (11-1, 2-0 Big East) went on a 26-10 run over the next seven minutes. The second such spurt was caused mostly by the Syracuse defense, which forced 14 total turnovers.

‘Defensively (we were) getting good stops,’ Warrick said, ‘making offensive plays off our defense, making turnovers and steals. I don’t think they wanted to get into a fast-paced game. It’s a pace that we like.’

But Syracuse had no answer for Smith, who scored 27 points and pulled down nine rebounds. The 6-foot-7-inch, 265-pound power forward used his soft touch to convert putbacks and floaters in the lane. SU head coach Jim Boeheim chose not to double team Smith, leaving center Craig Forth the unenviable task of guarding him. Senior center Jeremy McNeil replaced Forth when he picked up his third foul with three minutes left in the first half.

‘(Boston College) just couldn’t get into their offense Boeheim said. ‘Smith scored when he got it, he just didn’t get it as much in the first half because of our defense.’

McNeil played most of the second half, recording seven rebounds and three blocks.

The Orangemen played perhaps their best 20 minutes of basketball in the first half, and save for a small stretch in the second where they almost relinquished a 22-point lead, it may have been SU’s most promising game of the season.

SU shot 70 percent in the first half and close to 50 percent in the second. Meanwhile, the defense, playing mostly man-to-man, held the Eagles (11-3, 1-1) to 37 percent in the first half.

‘Whenever we get the lead down, we get great defensive play,’ McNamara said. ‘We have guys that can hurt you. If we’re all on that day, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.’

The Orangemen will finally leave the state of New York this weekend. They play Missouri on Monday in what is technically their first road game of the season after playing St. Bonaventure in Rochester on Dec. 3. The Tigers were ranked as high as No. 3 early this season before losing 5 games and are now unranked.

Published on January 9, 2004 at 12:00 pm