Tournament Hopes Shot With Loss to NC State

February 21, 2018

Boston College basketball’s tournament dreams are all but destroyed after a crushing 82-66 loss at NC State Tuesday night.

The Eagles started off with strong defense, forcing six Wolfpack turnovers quickly. But BC was only able to turn all of its defensive stops into six points. The Eags even held NC State scoreless for the first five minutes of the game, but faltered on defense later, allowing NC State to make 13 straight shots, including seven three-pointers.

“A-I-R BALL… A-I-R BALL” chants rained down from the NC State Student section during the first half after BC missed three after three. At one point, Nic Popovic got so excited for the chance to posterize a defenseless player, he committed a travel to the basket from near the three-point line. Any opportunity BC had seemed to be blundered away by an errant three, sloppy turnover, or silly foul.

BC struggled the entire night on offense. From the three-point line, they made four of 25 shots. The Eagles typically average nine three-pointers a game. NC State, on the other hand, drained 11 three-pointers, eight in the first half.

By the end of the first half, BC was down 16 points. Early in the second half, they showed flashes of life, but no real run ever came into fruition.

The Eagles live and die by their star trio, Chapman, Robinson, and Bowman, but each of them struggled to get comfortable on offense Tuesday night.

Robinson, after going 1-8 from the field, went down with an injury early in the first half and missed about eight minutes of play. After getting back into the game, he never found his groove on offense, ending the night shooting a porous 20%.

Bowman and Chapman both played with a little ease, adding 21 and 17 points respectively. However, neither were their typical, reliable selves from the three-point line.

NC State benefited from Sam Hunt off the bench, who went 4-4 from the three-point line. Guard combo Allerik Freeman and freshman Braxton Beverly also had great nights, putting up 20 and 16 points respectively.

Dancing in March seems like a dream for Boston College at this point. Winning games like this is imperative for the Eagles to snatch a bid to the tournament, yet their inability to show up on the road has prevented any real momentum for them. With this loss, Boston College falls to 16-12 on the season.

BC has a tough road game ahead against Miami this Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 P.M.

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