Boston College men’s basketball has not learned its lesson about slow starts.
After the Eagles went down 19 points in the first half to Miami on Wednesday, BC dug itself into another hole on Saturday against Georgia Tech.
Only this time, that hole included the Yellow Jackets pouring 85 points down the Eagles’ throats while shooting 58 percent from the field and 47 percent from three.
“Some games you wish you could do it over,” BC head coach Earl Grant said. “This was one of those games.”
The Eagles (9–6, 1–3 Atlantic Coast) appeared helpless against Georgia Tech (8–7, 2–2) all game long, displaying a disjointed offense and nonexistent defense in an 85–64 loss in Atlanta, Ga.
While BC grabbed a 15–14 lead seven minutes into the game off an Elijah Strong free throw, the Yellow Jackets quickly scored five straight points and never looked back. Their 44–31 halftime lead only grew in the second half.
Georgia Tech was led by guards Javian McCollum and Lance Terry, who each dropped 20 points on 50-plus percent shooting. BC’s guards, such as Chas Kelley and Luka Toews, were no match for Georgia Tech’s speed and agility.
“We weren’t surprised,” Grant said of Georgia Tech’s offense. “They play with good pace to get out in transition, and we allowed them to play their game. We allowed them to get out in transition. They got some open threes. Got some stuff at the rim. Got a couple guys that are lob threats.”
The Yellow Jackets had 16 fast-break points and shot 8 of 17 from behind the arc. More often than not, BC failed to close out on shots and also displayed an inability to rotate defensively, allowing Georgia Tech to have countless open layups.
“We aren’t as bad as we played,” Grant said. “But we didn’t play well enough.”
BC center Chad Venning was the lone bright spot for the Eagles, as the graduate transfer finished with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting along with eight rebounds. But 15 of those points came in the second half when the game was already out of reach.
Grant credits Georgia Tech’s lengthy defense as the reason Venning was limited in the first half, which forced the big man to kick the ball out of the post often.
“He would have had more attempts if their length wasn’t what it was,” Grant said.
Toews, who spearheaded BC’s comeback against Miami along with Fred Payne and Jayden Hastings, only played 13 minutes in the blowout. Grant has had to juggle playing five guards: leading scorer and reigning ACC player of the week Donald Hand Jr., Payne, Kelley, Joshua Beadle, and the freshman Toews.
Hand struggled mightily on Saturday, finishing with six points on seven shots.
Grant, meanwhile, emphasized that he will continue to look to Toews for more minutes going forward.
“I want to continue to give opportunities to people who deserve it,” Grant said. “He’s been able to break into the lineup some. Hopefully, we can continue to help him grow as a young player.”
Georgia Tech’s largest lead was 27, off two McCollum free throws at the 8:02 mark in the second half to put BC in a 74–47 hole.
McCollum got to the rim and drew fouls effectively all game. He made all six of the free throws he shot.
“McCollum came in the game and changed the game,” Grant said. “Very herky-jerky—changing direction, changing speeds.”
The loss marked the fourth time this season BC has given up 80 or more points—one of the other times coming against Dartmouth. Despite the weak showing for yet another game, Grant remains optimistic.
“It’s a journey. It’s a season. If you look at the definition of a season and a journey, it’ll define what we have to do now. We got to get back in and keep working. And don’t get discouraged and figure out how to fix the things we need to fix.”
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