In a late-night matchup, Boston College hung with UVA but couldn’t hold a late second-half lead, falling 72-68.
To no one’s surprise, offense was hard to come by in the game’s early stages. Quinten Post got the Eagles on the board with a driving layup three minutes into the contest, but they were the only BC points in the first six and half minutes of the game. Virginia is not going to win a track meet with anybody, but with sniper Isaac McKneely and dynamic guard Reece Beekman driving the offense they pulled ahead 9-2 at the first media timeout. Mason Madsen snapped an 0-3 start with a catch-and-shoot trey and Zackery drew a foul following a Virginia miss, but BC definitely faced shot creation issues in their half court offense. Virginia was aggressive in hedging the pick and roll, and with BC’s issues with offense off the bounce BC struggled to consistently generate good looks.
Defensively, with Beekman out of the game halfway through the first half the Eagles found some traction. They pulled within six at the 9:15 mark, and a Jaeden Zackery triple a minute later brought them within two. UVA found a bit of rhythm with some perimeter shooting, while Harris and Zackery started finding success in 1v1 situations – Harris had two tough buckets backing down his man, while Zackery bullied his way to the rack against his smaller defender for a tough 2. Grant rode a lineup of Zackery, Harris, Madsen, Aligbe, and Post for a good four-minute stretch towards the end of the first half, and initially the dribble-handoffs, pindown screens and pick and roll that the Eagles thrive on got Harris, Post, and Zackery some makeable looks. UVA adjusted, getting Beekman back in the game and sagging off of Aligbe (stop me if you’ve heard that before). With two minutes left in the first half, Harris collided with someone along the baseline and had to leave the game (though he stayed on the bench). Madsen found McGlockton for a nice layup, but UVA took a 27-23 lead into halftime.
Harris came out of halftime and canned a triple, but UVA immediately answered right back with one of their own. BC’s offense seemed out of rhythm to start the half, passing around the perimeter but with very little off ball-movement and some forced perimeter shots. This allowed UVA to push their lead to eight, but a tough Zackery and-1 got it back down to five and breathed some life into the Eagles’ offense. Post finally got a triple to fall after missing his first three, Zackery found McGlockton up top for a tip-in alley oop, and then QP tossed it up to McGlockton again for a thunderous slam. UVA called timeout to halt the 7-0 run, which saw the Eagles take the lead 40-39 at the 12:51 with Conte rocking.
Out of the timeout, UVA quickly responded with FTs and a big dunk of their own to take a three point lead back. Post hit two FTs to bring it back to one, and each team started to settle in offensively. McGlockton finished a nice and-1 to tie the game at 45. Even with all of McGlockton, Aligbe, and Post on the floor, UVA started crashing the offensive glass much more aggressively. They reeled in several halfway through the second half to cash in on some second-chance points, but at the 8-minute mark the Eagles forced some stops, ran out in transition, and finished at the rack. Zackery, in particular, got a tough runner to fall that looked like it was below the rim when he shot it. On the ensuing possession, Aligbe blew up a passing lane and finished at the rack to get the crowd engaged and give the Eagles a 51-48 lead with 7:46 to play.
Of course, McKneely responded immediately with back-to-back triples to give the Hoos a 3-point lead. McGlockton got a good look out of the midrange, but could not connect, and UVA hit another triple to push the lead to six. McGlockton picked up his fourth personal, stayed in the game, and then fouled out on the next possession after a bad Madsen turnover. BC looked desperate and rattled on offense, and UVA hit a triple with 3:34 to put them up 8. Post hit five straight FTs (sandwiched around one make for UVA) to bring the Eagles within 4 with 2:30 to go and just keep hope alive but four points from Reece Beekman all but sealed it. Of course, BC kept hope alive with a Mason Madsen and-1 to make it a 3-point game with 30 seconds to play, but BC (despite taking a timeout) could not even run a semblance of a play. Despite a decent effort, BC fell 72-68.