Providence 82, Boston College 78: Eagles Drop Season Opener In Overtime

In a sloppy game of basketball, filled with turnovers and fouls, Providence earned an 82-78 overtime victory over Boston College at the Dunk. PC's Bryce Cotton took over in the extra session, scoring seven of his 28 points in OT to give the Friars its 59th victory in the 108-game series.

For Boston College fans, we got our first look at newcomers Alex Dragicevich, Will Magarity, Garland Owens and Sam Donahue. All-ACC sophomore guard Olivier Hanlan picked up where he left off last season, finishing with 23 points, two rebounds and three assists to pace the Eagles. Hanlan successfully drew a bunch of PC fouls and finished 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. He was a bit cold from the floor, however, missing a few layups and open looks; finishing just 6-of-15 from the floor.

While it didn't really come through on the score sheet, I thought Joe Rahon had a very good game. He created a lot of opportunities with some fancy passing, including more than a couple nice dishes to Anderson for easy points. Rahon finished with a game-high 5 assists. His defense left a lot to be desired, but for most of the night he drew the unenviable task of guarding Bryce Cotton, who led all scorers with 28 points while adding six rebounds and four assists.

After getting off to a slow start, Anderson added 21 points and six rebounds. RA had some great moves in the post and hit one of his short jumper, though he still struggles a bit with that shot. Anderson finished 7-of-12 from the floor before fouling out right before overtime.

Patrick Heckmann ate up a lot of minutes but was relatively quiet, other than the fade-away field goal he made in the second half. Eddie Odio continues to do Eddie Odio things, including the dunk in the first half.

I liked what I saw from Alex Dragicevich. He got the start tonight and seemed to look the most comfortable in the Eagles' offense. Owens looked a bit tentative early; almost out of control at times. Maybe too much energy? Still, he did some nice things overall, including the fast break dunk from a feed by Hanlan. Owens' game still seems a little rough around the edges, but it's clear he's a tremendous athlete and has the potential to be really fun to watch this season. Other than notching his first points as an Eagle on a rainbow three, Magarity was limited in this one. So was Sam Donahue.

The game was marred by tons of turnovers and fouls. BC and PC combined for 33 turnovers on the night (17 BC, 16 PC), including what felt like an endless barrage of traveling calls on both ends of the floor in the first half. The refs must have thought this was the BC-BU hockey game, because the two teams were called for a combined 55 personal fouls (28 PC, 27 BC). Odio, Heckmann and Hanlan all fouled out (thought it should have been Anderson, not Hanlan, that fouled out in overtime). Anderson and Rahon finished with four fouls. Providence's Kadeem Betts, Tyler Harris and Josh Fortune also fouled out. Carson Desrosiers finished with four.

Those new NCAA rules, they are a'working.

Boston College Player of the Game

As I mentioned, while he was outscored by both Hanlan and Anderson, I thought Joe Rahon did a lot of great things tonight. The sophomore finished the game playing a team-high 39 minutes, scoring 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, adding five of the team's 11 assists and three rebounds.

Other Notes

-- Providence was playing shorthanded tonight, playing without starting PG Kris Dunn, starting SG Brandon Austin and forward Rodney Bullock. Dunn, who was in street clothes tonight, injured his right shoulder in an exhibition game against Rhode Island College last weekend and was unable to go. Austin and Bullock were suspended from game action indefinitely for "not upholding their responsibilities as student-athletes."

-- With the win, the Friars snap a six-game overtime losing streak. This is Ed Cooley's first overtime win as Providence coach.

-- There is enough arc on Magarity's three-point shot that the ball could comfortably travel from Stockholm, Sweden to Providence and still have plenty of time to land in the bucket. Andrew Bryant-esque.

-- Easily excitable Gus Johnson's call of this game was insufferable. Brutal. I've never understood what people see in his play-calling abilities. I get that Fox Sports 1 has a product to sell (new new Big East basketball), but thought Johnson was a bit too pro-PC / Big East on the call as well.

-- At first I thought I liked the Eagles new uniforms. Gone are the italic font and "BOSTON COLLEGE" is written entirely above the numbers this season. As the game worn on though, I decided they are far too stripe-y. Not sure what is going on underneath the arms and on the side of the shorts. It's just kinda all over the place. The gold is really mustard / Vegas gold too. That said, love the new striped shoulder warmups. They should sell those in the bookstore.

-- I saw you, small but noticeable Superfan section behind the basket. Respect.

-- Providence coach Ed Cooley looks good. He lost about half a person and according to the announcers, is down close to 100 pounds this year.

Road Ahead

Boston College (0-1, 0-0 ACC) looks to notch its first win of the season as they play the in-state UMass Minutemen on Sunday, November 10, 3 PM at the Garden. That game is part of a college hoops tripleheader billed as the Coaches vs. Cancer Boston Tip Off. It's the opening game of the season for UMass.

Leave your thoughts on the game below.