Syracuse basketball wins, Jim Boeheim disappointed and rips Alan Griffin

The Syracuse basketball recent rout of Boston College is not the “reality” of the Orange team, head coach says.

Syracuse basketball made a boatload of 3-pointers last Saturday afternoon in a blow-out of Boston College on the road, which naturally got Orange fans like me excited.

However, that success turned to utter ugliness on Wednesday afternoon inside the Carrier Dome, as the ‘Cuse went an awful 2-of-18 from beyond the arc against a scrappy Northeastern crew that put forth a tremendous effort.

The Huskies, out of the Colonial Athletic Association, had struggled on defense in their only two prior contests in the young 2020-21 term, but Northeastern competed with physicality versus the Orange, despite their best player, sophomore point guard Tyson Walker, not suiting up for the bulk of the second half.

Yes, the Huskies proved solid on defense. But Syracuse basketball also stunk it up on offense, particularly after intermission, when the team couldn’t get anything going.

Still, in the game’s waning minutes, guys like sophomore point guard Joe Girard III and sophomore forward Quincy Guerrier boasted a handful of monumentally important, big-time plays, and the ‘Cuse held off Northeastern, 62-56.

With this result, Syracuse basketball improves to 5-1, while the Huskies drop to 1-2. Up next for the Orange is a date this coming Saturday evening on the Hill with fellow New York state foe Buffalo, with the ACC Network providing television coverage.

Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim wasn’t all that pleased with his squad’s performance against the Huskies.

Even with a horrible overall shooting output, and a combined two points from junior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim and junior small forward Alan Griffin, the ‘Cuse found a way to prevail. That’s encouraging.

In a Zoom call with media members after the Northeastern conquest, Orange head coach Jim Boeheim said the danger of his squad’s throttling of Boston College this past Saturday is that “people think we’re there.”

But, he added, that game doesn’t accurately speak to the “reality” of the Syracuse basketball program in 2020-21 at this juncture. The ‘Cuse has a lot of work to do, Boeheim said, but he does believe “we’ll get better.”

Griffin, one of the top players in the Atlantic Coast Conference so far in the present stanza, was relegated to the bench during crucial parts of the second half against the Huskies.

Boeheim said, in essence, that Griffin “stood and watched” the entire encounter, on both ends of the court. Boeheim added that Griffin is “way too good” of a player to have that kind of performance. Griffin scored zero points versus Northeastern.

On the flip side, Girard tallied 21 points, and Guerrier, who is having one heck of a season to date, recorded a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds.

Syracuse basketball is now 8-0 all-time in its series with the Huskies.