Boston College fell 77-70 to UNLV in the NIT Second Round, ending Earl Grant’s third season.
Mason Madsen canned a three to draw first blood, but both offenses were clicking early. Post took a dribble-drive to the rack for an easy deuce, using his height advantage, but UNLV found points easy to come by – attacking McGlockton in the paint and connecting from distance. A lot of tough shots fell early for the Rebels, spotting them an early two-possession lead. Jaeden Zackery, however, looked energetic. He freed up for a nice midrange jumper and then cut to the rack for an easy deuce, fueling BC’s offense and keeping them within five. Post, on the other hand, looked shaky with a couple missed 3s and a bad turnover (which led to a wide-open UNLV triple). Nevertheless, BC’s offense naturally seemed to match up well with the Rebels. Post lingered on the perimeter, freeing up the paint for cutters and making UNLV’s perimeter defenders work extremely hard.
After taking Zackery out of the game, however, the ball stopped moving as effectively. Harris stood with the ball at the top of the key for about 5 seconds without dribbling, before getting it ripped away. Grant promptly pulled Harris (and Post) in favor of Zackery and Mighty, and the next offensive possession saw Aligbe turn the ball over attempting to run a pick and roll. This possession was then followed with a shot clock violation; BC struggled getting a man open and the offense just stagnated with no dribble penetration or successful off-ball movement.
Grant finally brought Post back, and the offense instantly found life. Post attacked off the dribble, then kicked to McGlockton for a wide-open 3 before QP got one to fall himself. With two Hand FTs on the next possession, BC took their first lead of the night. The hot shooting continued, with Madsen and McGlockton each connecting from downtown as well. The starters, when out there and making smart decisions, were able to consistently create good shots. Defensively, BC was not very sharp – biting on pump fakes, rotating late, and not getting through screens – but despite some rough patches (including losing the turnover battle 6-0), they headed to the locker room tied at 37.
Harris opened up the second half with a triple to give BC a three-point lead. McGlockton picked up his third personal, but then collected a Post miss for a nice putback. The first couple minutes of the second half mirrored those of the first: lots of offense on both sides, with some tough makes, and very little defense. Elijah Strong replaced McGlockton following the latter’s third foul, and he produced yet again with some excellent transition defense and a string of points, including a coast-to-coast tough finish at the rack. Neither team, however, could make a run to take control of the game, keeping it a one possession game. Zackery absorbed some contact to energize the BC bench with an and-1, but BC’s defense decided to leave UNLV wide open for an easy deuce in response. With a roaring crowd behind them, UNLV went on an 11-0 run – highlighted by a 30-foot three chucked at the end of the shot clock and a thunderous dunk – to take a 63-54 lead with 8:01 left to play.
Boston College responded with a timeout and Harris hit a nasty corner 3 with a defender draped all over him to quiet the crowd, but BC just could not string a series of stops together. McGlockton hit another 3, but on the ensuing possession UNLV breezed past BC’s backcourt pressure and tossed an and-1 alley–oop.
Quinten Post, with potentially the last minutes of his collegiate career draining away, decided to drag BC back into it. He drilled a 3 off of a broken play, cutting the deficit to 6, before attacking through the lane for an easy dunk. Unfortunately, UNLV responded with a 3, and Harris missed two 3s and a floater in the clutch to sink BC’s season 77-70. Post finished his collegiate career with 20 and 9, with McGlockton chipping in 11, 5 and 5.