Unfortunately, that first half of basketball looked very familiar to Boston College fans. The Eagles once again lacked energy, and it showed, especially on the defensive end. For a team that has coined themselves as “gritty”, they were anything but that. The Eagles allowed 44 points in the first half. They also allowed the Hokies to shoot 50% from beyond the arc. On the offensive end, the Eagles were led by Devin McGlockton, who has quietly been one of the Eagles’ most consistent and best players. Quinten Post and Prince Aligbe also contributed, but they had a hard time keeping up with the Hokies. The biggest surprise was Claudell Harris Jr.’s absence from the starting lineup. He has had a poor last two games, shooting just 2 of 24 from the field, but he is still averaging over 14 points per game, which is good for second on the team. It was an interesting decision by Earl Grant. I wonder if he came off the bench because of poor play, or because he left his jersey in Chestnut Hill. Harris wore number 15 tonight instead of the usual number 1.
The Eagles showed some fight in the second half. Down by 11 at half time, they cut the lead to 4 by the 14 minute mark. From there, the Hokies remained in control, but Boston College hung around thanks to McGlockton, Harris, and Post. McGlockton played one of his best games of the year tallying 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Harris struggled again from the field, but began to find his shot in the second half finishing with 14 points on just 5 of 16 from the field. Post finished the game with 15 points and was much more efficient than he has been in the past few games going 7 of 10 from the field. However, the Eagles didn’t have an answer for the combination of Sean Pedulla and Hunter Cattoor. The two combined for 33 points while going 5 of 12 from beyond the arc. Although the Eagles played much better defense in the second half, they couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole they created.
Tonight, Boston College just didn’t play their brand of basketball in the first half. They weren’t gritty on the defensive end and looked disorganized on offense. This seems to be a theme in a lot of the ACC matchups this year, namely the games against Syracuse and Notre Dame.
Let’s hope the Eagles can bounce back and be ready to go from the jump against Notre Dame this Saturday at 12 PM EST in South Bend.