In a basketball season full of bright spots, this game shone brightest for Boston College.
Having just lost a key player in Deontae Hawkings two games earlier, the Eagles were forced to play what was essentially a six man rotation against Duke, with four of their starters playing at least 35 minutes. The Blue Devils came into Conte Forum with their usual band of lottery draft picks, an undefeated record, and championship aspirations.
And BC shot them out of the building.
Ky Bowman had a 30 point triple double, Jerome Robinson was a perfect 5-if-5 from behind the arc, Jordan Chatman chipped in with 22 points of his own, and for a few glorious days, we got to say that BC was first place in the ACC. The Eagles shot a ridiculous 15-26 from three-point range and manged to keep Duke’s two projected lottery pick (Wendell Carter Jr and Marvin Bagley) to a combined 25 points, with freshman Steffon Mitchell in particular drawing praise for his defensive play.
It wouldn’t have been a BC game without some late drama, of course, as the Eagles saw the double digit lead they built early in the second half wither away and then disappear completely with about eight minutes of game time remaining. With just about three minutes to go in the game and with Duke holding a four point lead, Jerome Robinson drilled two three pointers about 80 seconds apart to put BC up for good.
And then we had bedlam
The 89-84 win gave BC a 1-0 conference record and, incredibly, a 3-0 record in their last three games against #1 ranked teams. It also set the stage for a very fun basketball season that saw the Eagles reach postseason play for the first time since 2011. Full highlights of the game can are below.
BC’s win over Duke won game of the year honors over Women’s Lacrosse’s wins over Maryland and Stony Brook, Football’s dismantling of Florida State, another basketball win over NC State in the ACC Tournament, and women’s hockey’s overtime win against BU in the Beanpot championship.