Boston College lost to UConn 72-70 tonight at Madison Square Garden in an exciting game that ultimately ended predictably. DeAndre Daniels lead the way as UConn proved to be a little too much for the Eagles on Thursday night. UConn's duo of Daniels and Napier scored 43 combined points which turned out to be two more than BC's top duo and also was the difference in the final score between the two teams. Several times as UConn appeared to begin to take over the game though, BC was able to get back into it including towards the end of both halves. Lonnie Jackson had a shot to win at the buzzer but his forced three point attempt was blocked, abruptly ending the hopes of a BC victory.
In the first half, it seemed like Lonnie Jackson's two threes were a large part of what helped the Eagles keep it a three point game at half time. But in the second half and for the game it would end up being Ryan Anderson and Olivier Hanlan who would account for more than half of the Eagles' offense but would not make enough plays to come out with a win. Anderson had tough matchups all night inside but still managed to score 22 points through getting to the line and hitting all 11 of his free throw attempts on the night.
The starting lineup continues to get shaken up early in the season just as Donahue did last year. Between injuries and performance we saw a starting lineup of Anderson, Hanlan, Owens, Magarity and Rubin. Ryan Anderson and Olivier Hanlan were the only two players that were in the starting lineup regularly to finish last season and Joe Rahon and Eddie Odio were brought off the bench tonight. Considering the way the team finished last season, you would have been pretty shocked to see this lineup if you have not been following the team but tuned in tonight to watch this year's Eagles for the first time. However, Eddie Odio and Joe Rahon both got decent playing time off the bench but were a combined 1-8 from the field with 2 rebounds and 1 assist. Eddie Odio accounted for their only basket on a dunk of course.
Lonnie Jackson looked like he will be back in full swing soon after he played in only his second game of the season tonight. Jackson, Rubin, Rahon and Dragicevich showed tonight that their only offensive game is shooting threes as between the 4 players they got off 17 3-pt attempts but one field goal attempt inside the arc. We know this collective group is capable of a more balanced attack than that, but it seemed UConn's athleticism forced them to be one dimensional. If the team is still this one dimensional in ACC play, it will be tough to accomplish what they hoped to going into the season.
BC will now face the loser of Indiana/Washington tomorrow night. The Eagles will need to play very well against either of those teams to avoid picking up their fifth loss in six games. Leave your thoughts on the game below.