Boston College 79, Marist 61: Three Up, Three Down

It wasn't pretty but it wasn't ugly; it just was. The Eagles controlled the game throughout and never let Marist get too close after halftime. They did what they were supposed to do against a team that is much less talented. BC should be happy with the win and look to build on it as they prepare for a much better opponent in Providence on Friday. Below are three ups and three downs from Monday night's game:

Ups

1) Shooting

Boston College finally looked like themselves from three-point land on Monday night. The Eagles connected on 8 of 20 three point attempts which was good for 40% and played a huge role in BC pulling out the win. Aaron Brown and Dimitri Batten were particularly hot, each hitting 3 triples, while Garland Owens and Alex Dragicevich each made one as well. The difference, in my opinion, was simply how confident the Eagles looked shooting. They stepped into shots and didn't hesitate to shoot when given the opportunity. Converting from deep will be huge down the stretch as BC will go up against plenty of teams with more front court talent.

2) Dimitri Batten

Batten stepped up big time Monday night, scoring a season high 17 points on an efficient 6-7 shooting. He set the tone early, knocking down a deep two and then stroking a three less than a minute later. Although it wasn't Batten's numbers that stood out to me, it was his confidence. He wasn't even hitting the rim on his shots, it was all net. He took control of the offense at times and attacked the rim relentlessly. Even without considering the fact that this was Batten's first start of the season, he played a very impressive game and probably secured his spot in the lineup for the immediate future.

3) Offensive Rebounding

Granted, it was Marist, but that doesn't change the fact that BC was super aggressive on the offensive glass, pulling down 15 rebounds. All that offensive rebounding led to easy second chance buckets and a lead for almost the entire game. Patrick Heckman managed to pull down 4 while Olivier Hanlan and Will Magarity each had 3 of their own.

Downs

1) First Half

BC won by 18 so I can understand if you feel that the halftime score doesn't really matter, but there is no way that the Eagles should have only had a 5 point lead at the half. BC needs to make it a point to get off to a good start and attempt to maintain that for the rest of the game. It's no secret that BC has had trouble putting two solid halves of basketball together and it's something that the Eagles really need to work on moving forward.

2) Depth

It didn't impact the game Monday night, but the loss of Eddie Odio just means that we have one less body in the front court and in general. Olivier played 35 minutes and has been averaging almost 37 minutes a game. The emergence of Dimitri Batten could prove helpful in giving Hanlan a rest but without Lonnie Jackson, the All-ACC guard still looks like he'll be playing nearly every minute in the upcoming games. The continuing progress of Garland Owens also looks to improve our depth.

3) Free Throws

I'm getting nit-picky for this one, but that's just because there weren't many glaring weaknesses for the Eagles. BC shot 16-27 from them charity stripe for an abysmal 65%. We've already had free throws cost us one game this year (WVU) and if we keep shooting like this then it's inevitable that it will cost us another win at some point. Considering BC played an all-around great game I'm still happy, but they have some work to do.

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Overall, the Eagles got the win and they did so in rather decisive fashion. There was no part in this game where I doubted that BC would come out on top, which is a nice change of pace considering how the last few games have gone. The fact that Hanlan only needed to score 9 points bodes well for the rest of the season as we can now look to Batten to be that much needed third scorer. Here's to Idy Diallo, Lonnie Jackson, and now Eddie Odio getting healthy.