CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Matt Milon was wide open on the right wing as Sammy Barnes-Thompkins pushed Boston College in transition. Milon was open despite making his first three 3-pointers and his four attempts from the field.

With his feet set, his 3-pointer swished in, giving him his 18th point of the first half against Syracuse, and setting a new career high.

“Milon’s a deadly shooter. They did a good job finding him, and we just didn’t in the first half,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “I don’t like to see him out there against us.”

Milon scored 20 points in the first half to keep the Eagles in striking distance. He finished with 25 points on the day and shot 8-of-12. When the Orange extended the zone to combat his shooting ability, it opened up scoring for BC big man Dennis Clifford, whose 16 points were three shy of a career high. But in the end, Syracuse’s imperfect defense and Boston College’s (7-18, 0-12 Atlantic Coast) ability to execute weren’t enough to tilt the final score in a 75-61 Syracuse (18-8, 8-5) win on Sunday afternoon at Conte Forum.

Milon didn’t score for the first six minutes of the game, but then scored 11 straight and 18 of the next 20 points for the Eagles. His run helped close a 10-point SU lead down to just one.

“It was very surprising,” Malachi Richardson said. “We knew he was a shooter but we didn’t think he would go off like that.”

Syracuse did a good job of closing out on Milon after the break, but Clifford scored 10 points after halftime partly because of poor rotations, and partly because the focus was elsewhere.

The Eagles got their first and only lead of the second half, when he went up for an and-one with 15:44 left and came down pumping his fist in the direction of his bench.

But the lead for BC was only temporary. Clifford could only provide inside scoring and Syracuse was hitting on all cylinders from deep. The Orange made 8-of-10 from behind the arc, and Milon and Clifford’s impressive performances only amounted to individual achievements.

“We were so concerned about their 3-point shooters, we probably extended a little bit,” Boeheim said. “If we’re scoring, we’re going to give up a 2, and we’ve got to take away the 3s. They can’t catch us if we take away the 3s.”

Published on February 14, 2016 at 5:28 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3