The regular season ended with a whimper for Boston College men’s basketball, as the Eagles were run off the floor in the first half, en route to a 73-47 loss to visiting North Carolina State. The Wolfpack (21-10, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) gave BC (14-15, 5-13) more than it could handle in the opening 20 minutes, using a 24-4 run to build a 17-point halftime lead that would only grow out of the break. The Eagles looked out of sync throughout, as they were held to under 50 points for the first time since Feb. 6, 2016.
1) Aggressive: Physical defense from the Wolfpack completely took Ky Bowman out of his game, and largely without any help from other scorers, he struggled mightily. N.C. State relentlessly double-teamed the Eagles’ leading scorer and, with a full-court press on, picked him up on defense from his own baseline. He only finished with 14 points on 4-of-15 shooting, a 27-percent clip that’s his lowest rate since Feb. 12 against Pittsburgh.
2) Organization: Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts had his team executing crisply on both sides of the floor but especially on the offensive end. N.C. State swung the ball around the floor with ease and crashed the boards well, especially in the first half. The Wolfpack piled up 41 points without a single player reaching double figures, shooting 45 percent as a team and sinking five mostly wide-open 3-pointers.
3) Droughts: BC strung together consecutive baskets just twice in the first half, suffering through prolonged scoring droughts. The worst stretch was a 12-0 run from the Wolfpack in the first half, one in which the Eagles failed to register a point for nearly four minutes of game play. Those struggles continued into the second, as BC had one stretch that lasted 3:37 without a point. This has been a tendency for the team throughout the year, but the difference with this game was that a second-half surge never seemed to be a remote possibility.
4) Concern: It was Jordan Chatman’s final game at Conte Forum, but he merely continued his recent struggles. The guard entered having shot just 30 percent from the field in his last three games—and an even more concerning 24-percent from beyond the arc—and he was unable to take a step forward. Even with plenty of open looks, Chatman shot just 2-of-13 on Saturday. One particularly egregious miss was an airball on a wide-open 3-pointer in the second half, a missed shot that he followed by bricking an uncontested mid-range jumper.
5) Depth: It didn’t seem to matter who head coach Jim Christian brought off his bench, as none of the assorted reserves that got playing time did much. Chris Herren Jr. was 1-of-4 and showed his youth by first fouling a N.C. State player after being rejected on the other end, then chucking up a 3-pointer before his team’s offense was set. Avery Wilson looked overmatched in his nine minutes at the point, Vin Baker Jr. was a -7 in three minutes, and Luka Kraljevic forced four points on six shots.
6) Disappointing: Christian can count himself lucky that the Wolfpack were a little off from distance, as his team made countless mistakes to leave shooters with space to fire away. N.C. State entered a game removed from shooting just 23 percent from beyond the arc, but it hit 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) and likely should’ve sunk more with the looks it was getting. BC lost Braxton Beverly—who hits at a 35 percent rate, 24th in the ACC—several times in the first half, when he sunk a trio of 3-pointers, then left the likes of Devon Daniels and Jericole Hellems open for easy buckets.
7) Unfortunate: One can’t look into how a player feels, but I’m sure Nik Popovic must be extremely frustrated with nagging injuries. The junior center was playing well in the first half when the rest of his team was struggling mightily—even if he turned the ball over three times, he had eight points on 4-of-6 shooting while the rest of his team went 4-of-21. He would exit just eight minutes into the second, though, with an apparent right leg injury that looked bad, as two teammates had to help carry him to the locker room.
8) Spark: Wolfpack guard C.J. Bryce was coming off a forgettable few games, managing just 15 combined points on 6-of-27 shooting in his last three contests. He provided a spark against BC, however, leading all scorers with 14 points while grabbing three rebounds and adding three assists in 30 minutes. N.C. State was a +24 with Bryce on the court as the UNC-Wilmington transfer really made his presence known.
9) Outmuscled: Steffon Mitchell did his part with 12 rebounds, but that was about the only positive thing regarding BC’s performance on the glass. N.C. State entered as one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, boasting a 36-percent rate that ranked 14th, and it exploited that matchup. The Wolfpack outrebounded the Eagles, 56-36, and held a decisive 19-11 edge on the offensive glass. This led to 13 second-half points and 32 total in the paint, a strong advantage that made it hard for BC to keep up.
10) Crash: This was the final result of a disappointing home stretch for the Eagles, who lost five of their last six games. It featured all the problems that have plagued the team throughout the year, whether that’s poor shooting, miscommunication on defense, or points allowed in transition. The team will limp, quite literally, as the No. 11 seed into a first-round conference tournament matchup against No. 14 Pittsburgh. The Panthers, who had lost 13 straight games, were able to end the regular season on a high note with a surprise three-point win over Notre Dame.
Featured Image by Bradley Smart / Heights Editor
