In Boston College men’s basketball’s first conference matchup of the season, NC State took the Eagles to overtime at Conte Forum in a thrilling, yet heartbreaking, finish for BC.
Saturday’s rematch in Raleigh, however, couldn’t provide a similar level of suspense. The Wolfpack (17–10, 9–7 Atlantic Coast) took 33 seconds to establish its first lead of the game and never let up, taking the second game of its season series against the Eagles (15–12, 6–10) by a final score of 81–70.
“You play this game, you’re gonna have some tough games and then you’re gonna have some games you play really good basketball,” BC head coach Earl Grant said after the game. “Today was one of our tough games.”
Plagued by turnovers, BC’s half-court offense struggled to string together baskets early on, needing over 11 minutes to reach the double-digit mark.
“We just needed to be better,” Grant said. “I think NC State had something to do with it. Obviously we play good basketball offensively, so we know what that looks like and I think the turnovers really flipped the game.”
Taking care of the ball has been the Eagles’ calling card for much of the season. BC’s average of 10.6 turnovers per game prior to Saturday’s matchup ranked as its lowest turnover rate since BC began tracking the statistic in the 1979–80 season.
NC State, however, turned ball security into BC’s Achilles heel. The Eagles racked up 11 of their 16 total turnovers in the first half—a setback they could never quite recover from.
“We just had a segment where we couldn’t take care of the ball at the level we needed to take care of the ball,” Grant said. “They pressured us, kind of got us out of character, got some steals and a couple of transition threes. The game took a big jump from five to six points—it went to 14 pretty quick.”
Despite its turnover woes and two early fouls against Quinten Post and Mason Madsen, BC still found itself in striking range entering the second half, trailing the Wolfpack 38–26. And though Jaeden Zackery opened up the second-half scoring with a fastbreak layup, the floodgates opened up soon after for NC State.
A 9–0 NC State run put the Eagles on life support just three minutes into the second half, facing a 47–28 hole. Grant, however, praised his team’s response to the Wolfpack’s surge.
“Really proud of the guys, just showing great character,” Grant said. “We got down big in the second half and we found a group that went in and played the game the right way and just played good basketball.”
The game only grew uglier for BC following NC State’s early second-half run. Near the period’s midway point, referees assessed Devin McGlockton with a Flagrant 2 foul and a subsequent ejection after the sophomore forward made contact with Ben Middlebrooks’ face on a block attempt. McGlockton struggled the whole day, going 0 of 6 from the field and scoring a single point at the free-throw line.
Post, BC’s leading scorer, recorded six points on a single field goal and fouled out with nine seconds left to play. Together, the Eagles’ starting frontcourt mustered only seven total points.
“Quinten Post and Devin McGlockton, they didn’t score the ball today much at all,” Grant said. “NC State did a good job of taking them out of situations where they usually score. And they had a tough day.”
With the ACC Tournament just over two weeks away, Grant urged his team to remain patient and committed to the process.
“Just stay the course,” Grant said. “Keep showing up everyday and working hard. You know, it’s a season. We ain’t the only team going through a season.”
