It was a big game for Tar Heel nation tonight against Boston College as tonight was the return of their star player and NBA prospect Cole Anthony who injured his meniscus back in November. Before even tip-off their was a buzz around Roy Williams court as fans adorned in powder blue were ready to see Anthony’s return as a nice spark to get the Tar Heels back on track in their winning ways. The first half certainly did not see that for either team as it was pretty ugly to say the least.
The Eagles and the Tar Heels both struggled to get some conversions in the first half and turnovers became the name of the game for both sides. Each team combined for 20 total turnovers in the first half with BC holding account for 12 of them. Yeah, you read that right. Not to mention the field goal shooting was atrocious for UNC as they finished the half shooting 29% from the field. The only reason the Tar Heels were able to stick around in the game was on account of the foul trouble that the Eagles kept putting themselves in. BC conceded 10 personal fouls and allowing the Tar Heels to keep the game close by allowing them to go to the line where they went 11/12. Nonetheless, the Eagles were able to counter any momentum from the Tar Heels with a few threes of their own and some solid offensive play from the Hamilton brothers and Jay Heath who all combined for 19 points and helped the Eagles go into the locker room up by two. Also, Cole Anthony had an abysmal first half where he missed all of his shots from the field and got all of his six points at the line.
The second half seemed to be all BC in the early moments as the Eagles were able to get into a rhythm and grow their lead to as large as 10. Jay Heath seemed nearly un-guardable as he was able get to the rim with ease and hit some clutch threes. However, the Tar Heels dug their feet in and continued to keep pressing on and were able to go on a few runs of their own to keep the game close. It also didn’t help BC that they continued to go deeper into foul trouble as they gave up 23 total personal fouls on the game. The Eagles were also unable to fight against the height differential as UNC dominated the offensive glass the whole game. As the game winded to a close, it was a back-and-forth match as both teams continued to take the lead away from one another. However, as the game’s final seconds began to drain, Cole Anthony for UNC hit a clutch floater to give UNC a one point edge with 29 seconds to go. Yet, on their last possession, Jared Hamilton was able to draw a foul beyond the arc and go to the line to give the lead back to the Eagles. The Tar Heels had one last chance to win the game, but an excellent 2-3 zone was able to throw them off and force Cole Anthony into a heavily contested three point heave that sailed out of bounds clinching the win for the Eagles.
With this win, BC snaps a 12 game losing streak against UNC and secures their 5th ACC win of the season. The Eagles will welcome UNC’s crosstown rival Duke on Tuesday at Conte Forum.