Very few things have seemed to come easy this season for Boston College men’s basketball in its 10-game deep season.
Its Cayman Islands Classic championship trophy didn’t come easy. Double-digit losses to VCU and South Carolina weren’t easy. And giving up 17 3-pointers and losing to Dartmouth—at home, no less—certainly wasn’t easy.
BC’s ACC opener wasn’t any different. From start to finish, it was anything but easy. And for the third straight game since their tournament win, the Eagles (6–4, 0–1 Atlantic Coast) weren’t able to handle the hard.
BC fell to Wake Forest (8–3, 1–0) 72–66 on Saturday afternoon on the road after being called for eight shooting fouls in the second half.
From when there was 12:16 left in the game to when there was 45 seconds left on the clock, the Demon Deacons made a single shot from the field. They sank 10 free throws in that span, however.
The Eagles shot eight free throws in the entire second half. According to BC head coach Earl Grant, free throws were the difference in the game.
“The whistle blew and they went to the free-throw line, and the whistle didn’t blow, and we didn’t go to the free-throw line,” Grant said.
When the Eagles did go to the free-throw line, though, the results weren’t always good.
“Unfortunately, Fred, he didn’t knock down the free throws,” Grant said. “But we had a chance right there to push this game into overtime.”
The Eagles’ late-game full-court press in the final minute worked out as well as Grant could’ve asked for. First, BC forced Wake Forest to use its last timeout after applying tough pressure on the inbound.
Then, BC’s full-court defense resulted in a steal as Donald Hand Jr. and Elijah Strong hustled to set a trap in the corner. BC took over possession after a Fred Payne steal, and a subsequent foul on Wake Forest sent him to the free-throw line.
But Payne missed his free throw, and it’s safe to say the game was over from there.
Other than Payne’s fruitless attempt, it’s true BC didn’t get nearly as many chances to make a difference at the free-throw line as Wake Forest did.
In a game that was back-and-forth for essentially all 40 minutes, the Demon Deacons shot 20 more free throws than the Eagles did. Wake Forest shot 23 free throws in the second half alone.
Part of that was the Eagles’ inability to get in the paint without turning the ball over.
Several times, Chad Venning posted up, received the ball, and was trapped by two or three defenders. That made it hard for him to see who was open or kick the ball out, resulting in turnovers for the Eagles.
Even when the Eagles did get in the paint, it rarely went well. That, like everything else, proved too difficult for BC.
With about seven minutes remaining in the game, redshirt freshman Jayden Hastings made a big play, leaping out of bounds and saving the ball, then throwing it to Payne. But Payne’s drive that resulted in a made layup didn’t end up counting, as he was called for an offensive foul.
That play told the story of the game for BC. The Eagles gave up points and fouls at the basket, while remaining unable to match that production on the other end—a recipe that handed them a loss in their first ACC contest of the 2024–25 season.
