Almost exactly a year ago, Jaeden Zackery put up a career-high 22 points to lead the Eagles past Clemson 76–55 and send Boston College men’s basketball to the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.
BC and Clemson faced off for the first time since then on Wednesday night and Zackery nearly matched his career-high, scoring 21 points and leading his team to a hard-fought win.
Only this time, Zackery did so for the other team.
No. 11 Clemson (25–5, 17–2 Atlantic Coast) shot 40 percent from three and 50 percent from the floor in an eventual 78–69 win over BC (12–18, 4–15) in the Eagles’ last home game of the season.
The Tigers dominated in the first half, shooting nearly 60 percent on both field goals and 3-pointers.
“The first half we gave up a lot of points,” BC head coach Earl Grant said. “Forty-nine is a big number to see on that scoreboard in a half.
But Clemson’s top-15 ranking and double-digit performances from four separate players wasn’t enough to give the Tigers an easy win.
Don’t get it wrong, though—a moral victory was not satisfying for the Eagles.
“I wish we won the game, you know?” Grant said. “Wish we won the game.”
BC fought until the very end, coming back from a 16-point deficit to bring the game within two points about halfway through the second period, as a 3-pointer from Dion Brown made it 62–60 Clemson.
“They gave great effort,” Grant said. “They played hard, they fought. That’s all we wanted them to do.”
In just over a minute, however, that two-point deficit had been stretched to seven points. A 3-pointer from none other than Zackery with 9:24 remaining gave the Tigers a cushion.
Neither team scored for nearly two minutes after that, as BC made none of its four attempts from the floor, while also turning the ball over and committing a foul. A layup from Ian Schieffelin broke the silence with 7:30 remaining, giving Clemson a 9-point lead. He ended the game with 13 points.
Four free throws from BC cut the lead back to five. Then, redshirt freshman Jayden Hastings—BC’s best player by far on Tuesday night—stormed into the paint for an and-1 finish at the basket. He sank his free throw, putting BC back 67–70.
BC wouldn’t go away, regardless of the fact that the Eagles had already been eliminated from the ACC tournament and were severely outmatched.
Hastings showed extreme confidence while slotting in for starting center Chad Venning, who did not practice on Tuesday due to injury and ultimately did not play in Wednesday’s game despite being in uniform.
“He’s in the gym all the time working on his post moves,” Grant said. “I’ve seen him grow right in front of me.”
Hastings finished the night with 18 points and doubled his previous career high of nine points. He shot a perfect eight of eight from the floor to go along with two blocks and three steals.
The game was a Cinderella-like story in itself—a team that had just been eliminated from the ACC tournament coming back from a 16-point deficit to snatch the lead away from the 11th-ranked team in the country.
With 5:32 left in the game, though, the magic stopped. Freshman Luka Toews, who ended the night with four assists, hit two free throws to keep the Eagles within three.
BC did not score again after those free throws. A 6–0 run from Clemson sealed the game.
Donald Hand Jr. and Toews each missed buckets. Then Hastings missed both of his free throws. Then Brown missed two more shots and Toews couldn’t hit on yet another jumper.
The Eagles had gone cold, and suddenly the only thing they had to show for a prime effort against a ranked team was a nine-point loss.
“You learn from your experiences, and learning is a gift, even if pain is a teacher,” Grant said. “We’ll learn from it, the young guys will grow up, and we’ll get to the other side of this adversity.”
Leave a Reply