Georgia Tech lost at No. 6 Duke by just six points on New Year’s Eve. Four days later, it was struggling to maintain a lead over a Boston College men’s basketball team that sits at the bottom of the ACC.
BC (7–7, 0–1 Atlantic Coast) went nearly five minutes without scoring a field goal in the second half, but still trailed by just two points. Donald Hand Jr. hit a 3-pointer to break the Eagles’ scoring drought, and they went up 41–40 with 10:51 left to play. A layup from Chase Forte, jumper from Boden Kapke, and free throw from Jayden Hastings helped BC extend that lead to 46–42.
The Eagles’ shooting struggles made a vengeful appearance as the clock winded down, however, and they made just three of their last 17 attempts en route to a 65–53 loss to the Yellow Jackets (10–5, 1–1) on Saturday afternoon.
Five of BC’s final 10 attempts came from behind the arc. The Eagles shot four in a row at one point even though their biggest deficit during that stretch was five points.
“We had some open threes that we didn’t make, but we also took a few that we shouldn’t have taken,” BC head coach Earl Grant said. “We needed to turn down a shot for a better shot—that happened to us multiple times.”
Georgia Tech did the opposite as the game neared its end, sinking six of its final eight attempts from the floor and finishing the game on a 17–5 run.
“It came down to toughness at that point, where we needed to get a stop and we needed to get rebounds,” Grant said.
Things were tied up at 48 with 6:13 to play after a jumper from Jayden Hastings, but Georgia Tech locked down on defense and the Eagles didn’t sink another field goal until there was 1:17 left on the clock.
“I thought that [Georgia Tech] really capitalized off of some of our decisions in the paint, some of our shot selection,” Grant said. “I don’t think we executed at the level we could execute, and they got a lot of transition baskets.”
A 3-pointer from Lamar Washington with 2:06 to play was the final dagger, putting the Yellow Jackets up 60–49 and the game ultimately out of BC’s reach.
BC starting guards Luka Toews and Fred Payne put up a combined seven points on 3-of-22 shooting and -26 plus-minus in 44 minutes. Hand also struggled from the field, going 2-of-13 from the field.
“[The Yellow Jackets] are pretty big on the perimeter … we were being aggressive and attacking, but sometimes we were being forceful in times when we didn’t need to, and we needed to wait and let things develop,” Grant said.
The free-throw line was Hand’s saving grace, as he sank eight of his 12 attempts to keep the Eagles’ offense afloat during tough stretches. Free throws were a big part of the game for both teams. They combined for 49 attempts—Georgia Tech shot 20-of-29 from the line, while BC shot 13-of-20.
“It was physical, you know, and they beat us at that game,” Grant said. “I thought we needed to be tougher, keep them out of the paint.”
The Yellow Jackets missed nine of their first 10 attempts of the game. They made nine of their next 12, however, and had established a 10-point lead over the Eagles with 4:29 left in the first half.
BC fought back thanks in large to the efforts of bigs Aidan Shaw, Boden Kapke, and Jayden Hastings, cutting the deficit to 27–24 by halftime. Kapke finished the game with 13 points, his best scoring performance since the Eagles’ win over Temple on Nov. 15.
The Eagles kept it close in the first 10 minutes of the second period as Hand drew fouls left and right, making three of four straight attempts to cut Georgia Tech’s advantage to 36–35, then take a lead of their own.
But when the Eagles stopped driving into the paint, they stopped finding success. The Yellow Jackets were getting transition buckets, while BC settled for outside jumpers that weren’t falling.
Kowacie Reeves Jr. scored two fast-break layups in less than a minute, and BC committed three straight fouls shortly after, handing Georgia Tech five easy points from the line.
Washington and Reeves led the Yellow Jackets’ charge, combining for 33 points on their way to a win.