Brian: Before tonight's game, the North Carolina Tar Heels had scored over 100 points just two times this season against Hofstra and vs. St. Francis (PA). Well, you can add Boston College to that short list of teams that the Heels scored in triple-digits, as North Carolina absolutely crushed BC 106-74. It was the first time that an BC opponent has reached the 100 point mark in regulation since 1996.
It was also one of the most BC lopsided basketball games I can remember in quite some time. Where does this loss rank in your all-time Eagles beatdowns?
Jeff: I'm not so sure that this loss even makes any sort of all-time list. BC has been embarrassed right from the tip before which did not happen last night. BC looked good for the first ten minutes or so and continued to look at least decent on offense the entire night. Trapani had a monster game despite little help from his teammates. Last year, it seemed like nearly every conference loss was by double digits and since there were so many losses in conference, perhaps I'm a little numb to getting beat bad by a ranked UNC team when we at least put 70+ points on the board. UNC was helped by our lack of defense certainly, but they also were on fire and hit a ton of shots. I can't put all the blame squarely on the BC players, part of it was just catching UNC on the wrong night.
Brian: The way in which the Eagles lost overshadowed a big, big performance from Joe Trapani, who, as you mentioned, was the lone bright spot for the Eagles last night. Trapani finished with 25 points and 15 boards in the losing effort.
In contrast, Reggie Jackson didn't have a very good game.
For the second straight game, Reggie Jackson was all but neutralized by a very good North Carolina defense. Jackson, who entered the game averaging 18.5 points a game, finished with just 6 points on 2-10 shooting. Now two games against RPI Top 15 teams doesn't exactly make a trend, but Jackson has been held to single digit points in two straight games now and is shooting just 28 percent from the floor in his last four games (13-46). What's up with Reggie? Have ACC teams figured out how to guard Jackson, or do you expect him to rebound in the Eagles' next few games?
Jeff: Here I am going to blame the player moreso than credit the other team. Jackson is going through a little midseason slump as far as I can tell. He might be a little fatigued, or might just be lacking some confidence after the last few games but he is not making quick decisions, his passing is terrible, and he just looks a little slower moving around than normal. At this point, I think the MVP of the team Jackson v. Trapani discussion isn't even worth having because it's clearly Trapani. But, Jackson has been a playmaker for us and the leading scorer so if he doesn't get back at least some of what he had going, the rest of the season will be tough.
Brian: So where do the Eagles go from here? Donahue has a few days to try to turn things around as the Eagles host the visiting Hokies on Saturday. It will be a good, early test for Donahue to see how his team responds from a such a lopsided defeat. How do you think this team will come out on Saturday? In other words, is this the low water mark of the season, or the beginning of the end for BC?
Jeff: It's tough to tell. Florida State-Duke-North Carolina was the toughest stretch of games by far on our schedule. Losing two wasn't even a little bit surprising and losing all three still not much more surprising. The problem is, the final score of all three games was not even close. Donahue's new style is going to be a little more likely to produce some blowout wins and losses based on whether the guys are hot or cold, but it would be easier to say what might happen from here if the Eagles had taken at least one of those games down to the final possession or two.