Syracuse @ Boston College preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 15, 2020 ) Boston College 50, Syracuse 76

Boston College has lost three straight games, most recently a crushing defeat against Notre Dame, and must regroup in time for its home finale Tuesday against Syracuse. The Orange took the first matchup of the season 76-50 on Jan. 15 as the Eagles shot just 33 percent from the floor in the lopsided defeat.

Syracuse won consecutive games before falling to last-place North Carolina 92-79 over the weekend, leaving the Orange in a position where they must win the ACC Tournament - or come close to it - in order to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. "We just need to regroup, get ready, and go out and play well in our last two games," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said after the setback to the Tar Heels. T.J. Gibbs broke the Eagles' hearts with a bucket just before the buzzer on Wednesday to give Notre Dame a 62-61 triumph at BC. Steffon Mitchell was a bright spot for the Eagles with 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, but the team still failed to surpass 65 points for the third straight game.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT SYRACUSE (16-13, 9-9 ACC): Buddy Boeheim led the team with 22 points against the Tar Heels, while Elijah Hughes added 19 points on 5-of-16 shooting. Bourama Sidibe has given the team a spark of late, posting 17 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks against the Tar Heels to bring his averages to 12 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.6 blocks and 3.0 steals over the last three outings. Joseph Girard III was 3-of-12 from the field against North Carolina and has made more than a third of his shots only three times over the last 11 games.

ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE (13-16, 7-11): Jay Heath and Derryck Thornton share the team scoring lead at 12.9 points per game, followed by Nik Popovic (10.5), who is 3-of-18 from the field over the last two games. Heath and Thornton each had 12 points against Notre Dame, while three Eagles reserves - Julian Rishwain, C.J. Felder and Luka Kraljevic - combined for 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Jared Hamilton continued to struggle, shooting 1-of-7 versus the Fighting Irish to drop his shooting to 8-of-33 over the last five outings.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Girard has made multiple 3-pointers in each of the last five games.

2. Mitchell has seven steals in the last two games and recorded multiple steals in four of the last five contests.

3. In the last three games, Thornton is 14-of-14 from the foul line.

PREDICTION: Syracuse 64, Boston College 60