With 18 seconds left and up 89–87, it appeared Boston College men’s basketball had a chance to snap its five-game losing streak and earn its first road win this season, as the Eagles had possession of the ball.
By simply inbounding the ball and making their free throws once fouled, the Eagles would have made it a two-possession game.
But Earl Grant’s squad never got that far. Chas Kelley III, who had just been inserted into the game for a fouled-out Dion Brown, held onto the ball under the basket. Kelley couldn’t find anyone or anywhere to inbound the ball, and BC committed a five-second violation, giving the Tar Heels a chance to tie the game with 13 seconds remaining.
North Carolina (13–8, 6–3 Atlantic Coast) did just that, as Seth Trimble converted a jumper to tie the game, force overtime, and eventually win the game for the Tar Heels, 102–96. The Eagles (9–11, 1–8), meanwhile, dropped their sixth straight game as they collapsed in front of a sellout crowd in Chapel Hill, missing an opportunity to reignite their season despite shooting 14 of 24 from behind the arc.
Kelley’s inbounding woes, however, didn’t stop there. With four seconds remaining in regulation, BC had a chance to win the game after calling a timeout near the basket. UNC deflected Kelley’s first pass attempt out of bounds almost instantly. The second inbound pass was even worse, as Chad Venning couldn’t handle Kelley’s wild pass and redirected the ball out of bounds.
“I gotta go watch the film,” Grant said of the inbounding issues. “Got a five-second count. So, you know, maybe length, I don’t know. Chas Kelley had just checked back in. Hadn’t been in for 10 minutes. So, yeah, I’m not sure. We never have issues getting the ball in.”
After UNC had tied it up at 89, Grant called a timeout with four seconds left instead of letting the Eagles try to get a shot off. The timeout led to the second Kelley turnover.
The decision to call the timeout was based on Joshua Beadle injuring his leg on the previous play.
“We was trying to help him, trying to help him get back under control so we can actually execute the right way,” Grant said. “The play before, he couldn’t run, you know, the guy drove right by him. So just trying to make sure we get five on five and not five on four.”
The Eagles ran out of gas in overtime. Donald Hand Jr., who led BC with 26 points, nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 94 with 2:47 remaining.
But Hand only took one more shot in overtime, as the Tar Heels committed to swarming him at every opportunity.
“I would love to see him take more shots if they didn’t do such a good job of denying him,” Grant said. “We ran some plays for him. They put two to the ball. … He just wasn’t able to score.”
Two RJ Davis free throws gave UNC a 100–96 lead with 53 seconds remaining, and Hand’s layup attempt was then blocked, sealing the heartbreaking loss for the Eagles.
Every time UNC got going in the second half, the Eagles answered. BC was down 46–45 at halftime and kept in step with the Tar Heels throughout. Before fouling out, Brown had perhaps his best game as an Eagle, totaling a season-high 20 points with four made 3-pointers on just five attempts.
But injuries to Beadle and Roger McFarlane, and Venning fouling out in overtime, proved to be too much as the Eagles found themselves in the losing column once again.
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