In Boston College men’s basketball’s Tuesday night matchup with Virginia, turnovers proved to be fatal for the Eagles.
BC (9–12, 4–7 Atlantic Coast) committed 14 turnovers and shot 40.4 percent in a 67–55 road loss at Virginia (13–9, 7–5).
“In a 57-posession game, to give away 14 turnovers is really hard,” head coach Earl Grant said in his postgame press conference.
BC continued to play at the slow pace it has all season, with its first fastbreak points coming 10 minutes into the second half. Combine BC’s pace with Virginina’s dominant, half-court offense, and Tuesday’s matchup was a slow-going affair.
“You got to value your possessions when you play against them,” Grant said. “It’s going to be low possessions, so your ability to take care of the ball is crucial.”
BC took a 11–4 lead early on, but Virginia reclaimed that lead at 15–14 midway through the first half and led for the remainder of the game.
The Eagles trailed 30–25 heading into the break after BC’s top scorer Makai Ashton-Langford went scoreless through the first 20 minutes. He finished the game with seven points. James Karnik finished with a team-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while DeMarr Langford Jr. added 11 points.
Guard Kihei Clark led the way for the Cavaliers, scoring 19 points, including 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
The game was BC’s fifth in 10 days, and Grant said after BC’s loss to North Carolina on Jan. 26 that the busy schedule can be mentally and physically challenging.
In the five-game stretch, BC has gone 2–3, with wins coming over Virginia Tech and Pitt—both at home. In its three losses to Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Virginia, BC committed a number of the same mistakes.
Low 3-point shooting was characteristic of each loss. Heading into the contest, BC ranked 285th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage at 31.5 percent. It went 6-of-25 against Wake Forest, 1-of-16 against North Carolina, and 5-of-21 from three at Virginia.
Virginia went 3-of-7 from three on Tuesday but attempted 29 free throws to BC’s 12, going 26-of-29 from the stripe.
“That’s life on the road,” Grant said. “We got to be a little more disciplined defensively.”
Featured Image courtesy of Andrew Shurtleff / AP Photo
