It was a sloppy start to the game for Boston College. The Eagles surrendered 5 turnovers in the first 4 minutes of the ball game. Aside from the BC turnovers, NC State did a good job of establishing DJ Burns on the interior early. By establishing Burns, the Wolfpack got Quinten Post in foul trouble and forced the Eagles defense to collapse on the block allowing for DJ Horne and Jayden Taylor to get going offensively. Burns scored 8 of the Wolfpack’s first 10 points and ended the first half with 10 points and 3 assists, while Horne and Taylor combined for 21. The Eagles struggled to get anything going offensively in the first 10 minutes falling behind by 12. Mason Madsen, Prince Aligbe, and Jaeden Zackery combined for 22 of BC’s 26 points at the break. Despite shooting just 39% from the field and turning the ball over 11 times, the Eagles were still within striking distance down by 12 at the half.
The Eagles fell further behind at the start of the second half as the Wolfpack opened up the lead to 17 points by the 15 minute mark. The Eagles really struggled to get Post going offensively. They also struggled to keep him out of foul trouble. He was forced to exit the game at the 12 minute mark as he had committed his 4th foul, and NC State almost immediately extended their lead to 18 points. Shortly thereafter, Devin McGlockton was ejected after committing a flagrant foul on Ben Middlebrooks in which he attempted to block a break away dunk. With Armani Mighty and Elijah Strong manning the interior and defending Burns, the Eagles couldn’t keep up. NC State continued to extend their lead and kept a comfortable distance between themselves and the Eagles the rest of the ball game. Burns proved to be a problem for the Eagles front court finishing with 19 points.
The Eagles finished the game with 16 turnovers and struggled to keep up with the scoring of the Wolfpack. The bright spot of the game was Mason Madsen as he has played brilliantly of late. He finished the game with 21 points on 8 of 11 from the field. When Boston College’s best player, Post, is in foul trouble and they have trouble holding onto the basketball, it is very hard to win games in the ACC. The Eagles have struggled with turnovers all season and today was no different.
The Eagles will head back to Chestnut Hill to face the Virginia Cavaliers on Wednesday the 28th at 9 PM EST. The Eagles will need to do a better job of taking care of the basketball against the Cavaliers’ defense on Wednesday night.