Boston College Men’s Basketball Blows Out CCSU 84-65

It was another slow start for Boston College when they hosted Central Connecticut State University today, but a strong second half saw them pull away from the Blue Devils and win their fourth game in a row 84-65. Jordan Chatman lead the way with 15 points and was one of five Eagles who scored at least ten.

The Eagles got off to a sluggish start in the first half, leading for almost the entire time, but never by more than a few points. Central Connecticut found holes in the BC defense and hit their open shots to keep it close. Johncarlos Reyes got the start for BC with Nik Popovic battling the flu and gave the Eagles some energy early on, pulling down a pair of offensive boards and hitting a few buckets as well. Ky Bowman had a quiet first half for himself, scoring just six points, but Steffon Mitchell and Jerome Robinson picked up the slack, with a buzzer beater three from Robinson giving BC a 43-36 lead at the half.

Boston College completely blitzed CCSU after the half, starting off with a 17-4 run that put them up 20 points. All five of the Eagles on the court (four starters and Popovic in for Reyes) got it done on both ends, with a number of baskets coming on fast breaks off of turnovers caused at the defensive end. Christian went to the bench early in the second half, with Vin Baker Jr and Luka Kraljevic hitting threes to extend the BC lead. Baker had a solid day overall, hitting a nice floater off a pump fake in the first half to go with his corner three in the second. With Teddy Hawkins out for the year, BC desperately needs someone on the bench to step up and play some minutes on the wing, and Baker could very well be that person.

Head coach Jim Christian left the starters on the court for a long time and Central Connecticut could never make a run. BC had 17 assists on 36 made baskets today, with Robinson and Popovic each collecting four to lead the team. One slight negative was the ball protection for the Eagles today, as they turned the ball over 14 times on the afternoon.

The slow first half was concerning, but BC took care of business in the second and pulled away from an over-matched CCSU. Robinson, Chatman, Bowman, Popovic and Mitchell all scored double digit points for BC, who did a great job moving the ball all day. Mitchell added 14 rebounds to collect a double-double on the day. The win was BC’s fourth in a row, their ninth on the season, and their second against a team called the Blue Devils. With a 9-3 record, BC has already matched their win total from a season ago. They’ll wrap up their non-conference schedule when they host Richmond on Saturday afternoon.