Boston College Men’s Basketball Defeats NC State 91-87: Recap and Reactions

BC 91 – N.C. State 87

The Eagles came up with a huge win to advance to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 2013. The offense was scorching hot today, with five Eagles scoring in double figures (Bowman, Robinson, Popovic, Chatman, and Reyes). They shot over 50% from the field, came up with 15 second chance points off 13 offensive boards, outrebounded the Pack 39-31, and forced more turnovers (12) than they gave up (10) despite being pressed for almost the entire game.

N.C. State looked cold in the first half as BC rode their momentum from the previous afternoon’s win and took complete control of the early game. Ky Bowman had a resounding first half, putting up 12 points, 4 rebounds, and an emphatic block. Nik Popovic also got off to a hot start before going down with a leg injury in the first half. After being assisted to the locker room, he returned to the game and was able to play 26 minutes. Johncarlos Reyes contributed 14 solid minutes in his absence, with 10 points and 3 rebounds. N.C. State pressured BC as expected, but the BC guards repeatedly beat he pressure to find an open Popovic, Reyes, or Mitchell under the basket for an easy layup.

The Wolfpack, after shooting a woeful 35% from the floor in the first half, turned up the heat in the second. They shot 73.3% from the field in the second half while hitting seven of ten 3s. The Eagles were able to keep up with the shootout for the first ten minutes, maintaining a 15-point lead. When the Wolfpack made their biggest push in the final six minutes, however, it appeared that they might run out of gas. Jerome Robinson came up big in crunch time, scoring 7 points in the last 1:35 and deflecting a crucial N.C. State inbounds play that Ky Bowman came up with in the final 11 seconds. With a 2-point lead, the Wolfpack were forced to foul and Bowman hit a pair to make it a 4-point game. Markell Johnson came back with a quick layup but the N.C. State coaching staff called a timeout that they did not have and cost their team a technical that put the game out of reach in the final seconds.

BC will take on #4 Clemson tomorrow at 2PM on ESPN.