Coming off back to back conference losses, the Eagles traveled to South Bend to try to earn their second conference win. Notre Dame has had a lack luster start to the year, as they also sit at 1-4 in conference play entering tonight’s matchup. Boston College defended much better in the first half tonight than they have in the past few games. More specifically, they guarded the 3 point line, holding Notre Dame to just 2 of 9 from beyond the arc. Boston College, in turn, shot 50% (5 of 10) from behind the 3 point line, which really kept them in the game. Donald Hand, Jr., in particular, had a nice first half with 11 points on 4 of 6 from the field. The one-two punch of Tae Davis and Markus Burton combined for 20 of Notre Dame’s 36 points in the first half. Notre Dame led at the break 36 to 33.
The second half was a different story for the Eagles. The Fighting Irish dominated the last 10 minutes of the game outscoring Boston College 22 to 10. Burton and Davis combined for 46 of the Irish’s 78 points. Davis had his way with BC scoring 26 points on 9 of 14 shooting. The Eagles just had no answer for him or his counterpart in the back court Markus Burton. Burton had 20 of his own on just 5 of 15 from the field. The Eagles did a great job of defending the 3 point line against the Irish as they shot 3 of 15 from beyond the arc, but they did a poor job defending everything else. The Eagles once again had trouble with consistency on the offensive side of the ball. The top performer was Hand, he finished with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting. He seems to be one of the only Eagles’ who can create his own shot when the offense breaks down. Boston College fell to the Irish 78 to 60.
Overall, Boston College showed some glimpses tonight on the defensive end, especially in the first half. They did a great job of defending the three point line all night, but didn’t continue to defend after running the Irish off the line. The offense struggled again tonight despite shooting over 50% from the 3 point line.
Boston College has had a rough last two weeks, but it will only get tougher as Duke comes to town on Saturday. Cooper Flagg has seemingly hit his stride after dropping 42 on Notre Dame this weekend. After the performance from Tae Davis, BC and Earl Grant will need to scheme up some different defenses to try to slow down the Duke freshman. Duke and Boston College will tip off at 8 PM EST at Conte Forum.