CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Rakeem Christmas glared out from the bench as he watched Syracuse flounder against Boston College’s sharp-shooting Lonnie Jackson and efficient post man Ryan Anderson.

The junior center had just picked up two fouls in a span of 22 seconds early in the second half — and while he did not know it at the time — he wouldn’t be stepping onto the court again until the final buzzer.

“I think Rak could have had a good game,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “He made some really bad fouls and got himself out of the game.”

Christmas and senior center Baye Moussa Keita combined for six points, four rebounds and eight personal fouls in a combined 41 minutes of No. 2 Syracuse’s (17-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) 69-59 win over Boston College (5-12, 1-3) on Monday. Part of the foul trouble was due to SU extending its 2-3 zone to stop Jackson, but the pair of centers was outplayed by a mediocre Boston College frontcourt.

The Eagles’ forwards are constantly overshadowed by their backcourt and the team entered Monday as the only ACC program with a negative rebounding margin.

“I don’t think we’ve had a guy in foul trouble like that all year,” Boeheim said of Christmas. “He’s been good. I don’t know.”

The center-based blunders started even before tipoff. An apparent miscommunication between SU and the official scorekeepers resulted in Keita making his first start since the 2010-11 season. Sophomore forward Jerami Grant was expected to make his fifth straight start with DaJuan Coleman still sidelined due to a left leg contusion.

SU Athletics spokesman Pete Moore said it was the first time he’d seen something like that happen in his 31 years working in sports communications.

Keita would only play the first 54 seconds before Grant came in, but following a two-handed flush from Christmas a minute later, the offensive success was minimal for the pair.

Christmas failed to establish position regularly on the inside while Keita, who grabbed three offensive boards, failed to go back up strong on two occasions.

Defensively, the pair committed six of their fouls in the second half.

After Christmas pushed through Anderson on a dunk attempt 1:10 into the second half, he hacked him on a shot attempt 22 seconds later.

Then Keita logged all four of his fouls in the final 10:28. While he was, at times, caught out of position, the team’s defensive adjustment put Keita in a strenuous position.

“We tried to cover the shooters and we kind of left under the basket with Baye playing two-on-one, basically,” SU forward C.J. Fair said.

Still, without Coleman, the Orange is relying on Christmas and Keita for quality minutes.
When No. 23 Pittsburgh visits the Carrier Dome on Saturday, the Orange will need an improved effort.

Published on January 14, 2014 at 4:33 am

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1