Miami 60, Boston College 56 :Eagles Fall To 0-3 In The ACC

Olivier Hanlan lead the Eagles in the first half with 13 points to keep the Eagles within sight of Miami at the half. Hanlan continued to be a key player en route to close loss to Miami 60-56. Hanlan shot very well from beyond the arc, finishing 4-8, but he did not shoot well from the line, finishing only 1-4. One more three or a few free throws and it might have been the difference. BC shot 5-for-11 from the free throw line which made up for them only missing one free throw at home against Pitt.

Early in in the second half it looked like Miami was headed to victory until Boston College went on a nice 6-0 after the second TV timeout of the second half to get BC within 6. Angel Rodriguez, Miami's best player today, was on the bench during that run. When Rodriguez came back in it seemed briefly that Miami would take control of the game but BC slowly chipped away at the lead.

Eddie Odio scored 13, including 3 3-pointers in his return to his hometown. Odio's second 3-pointer brought BC to within 4 of Miami with 8 minutes to play. This was a welcome surprise after Odio only scored four against Pitt and Miami looked like it was going to cruise to a victory early in the second half. However, both teams struggled to score so BC was never completely out of it. Odio did seem to steal Heckmann's minutes today as Heckmann would have finished with zero field goal attempts until he chucked up a 3 at the buzzer. Heckmann started the game but didn't see the floor much after throwing the ball away in the first half. Jim Christian was obviously not willing to see the same sloppiness out of Heckmann he saw against Pitt.

Aaron Brown took far fewer shots than he did against Pitt, but Brown's first 3 of the game tied it with 5 minutes left in the game. Brown finished with 5 points on 2 of 6 shooting.

It was an exciting finish to the game whether you were a BC fan praying for the upset or as a Miami fan. A shot clock violation on Miami got BC the ball back down 3 with 1:12 left. On BC's possession, Hanlan missed off the rim on a drive to the hoop. Miami then again failed to scored and Hanlan was fouled by Rodriguez, sending him to the line for a 1 and 1. Hanlan did not convert and Miami returned the favor when McClellan also missed the front end of the 1 and 1. Hanlan then got a wide open look from 3 with the opportunity to tie and 6 seconds left, but after hitting every part of the rim it did not drop. This time Tonye Jekiri hit the front end of a 1 and 1, essentially ending the game.

Boston College only had 6 turnovers so it was a much better game to watch than the Pitt game when they had 17 but unfortunately it still resulted in a loss. The Eagles fell to 7-7 on the season and 0-3 in the ACC. It will take several surprises for BC to finish with any postseason tournament opportunities, but the game today at least gives fans hope that BC can beat some decent ACC teams this year.

Next up: vs. Harvard on Wednesday.