College Basketball Scores, Rankings, & Schedule 2014: No. 1 Syracuse Falls To BC; What Happens Next?
Some of the best teams fall at the most unexpected times.
No. 1-ranked Syracuse University men's basketball team suffered its first defeat of the year -- an overtime heartbreaker -- to an unlikely foe in Boston College at the Carrier Dome on Wednesday night.
Thankfully for the Orange, the number one seed appears to be safe -- but not without some worries. The squad seemed to have peaked after toppling Duke in Syracuse earlier this month but ever since then things have been shaky at best.
That said, enough about Syracuse's performance on Wednesday night. Boston College -- a mediocre squad and a huge underdog heading into Wednesday's game, on the road nonetheless -- came through in the clutch and hit their shots when they needed them the most. Patrick Heckmann and Olivier Hanlan paved the way for Boston College in overtime with their clutch 3-point shots to help secure the victory while Lonnie Jackson tallied four consecutive free throws in the final half-minute of the game. C.J. Fair paced the Orange with 20 points in the contest.
The 3-10 BC squad is in second-to-last place in the ACC standings with an overall record of 7-19 while Syracuse still has an impressive 12-1 win-loss record in the conference. Although Syracuse is no longer undefeated, the team still boasts an impressive 25-1 overall record.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim gave credit to Boston College for playing well but also said his team should not dwell on this loss moving forward.
"I'm really happy that we've won 25 games," Boeheim said. "We can't think about that. We've got to think about what we have to (do) going forward. We've really got to get better, and I think we will. It's been an unbelievable run; I've never seen anything like it before. It's remarkable what they've done."
What do you think about Syracuse's chances going forward into March? Will they bounce back and cruise through the tournament or will the team falter?