It was there for the taking. For roughly three-quarters of BC’s ACC home opener against the SMU Mustangs, they looked competitive. Despite the overall poor defense for most of the game, the offense working in fits and starts, they led by as many as eight in the first half. While they did not lead in the second half they cut the lead to as few as three. Then SMU made some adjustments – most notably switching to a zone defense – and BC collapsed. The offense was nonexistent and the defense’s dam burst in an ugly, ugly 103-77 loss.
The first half started positively. BC’s starting group, while certainly not perfect, gave SMU’s offense some early fits and the Eagle’s offense in particular looked in rhythm. The offense was able to force some turnovers and looked to push in transition, with Josh Beadle wasting no time in getting the Eagles down the court. Donald Hand and Dion Brown were bright spots, as well. Hand in particular was aggressive today, bulldozing his way to the rack while also connecting on 3-7 attempts from downtown. Brown quietly put together a 20-piece, finding a lot of space on the perimeter and connecting on some transition layups as well. There aren’t many other positive takeaways from today. Midway through the first half, with the Eagles still leading by single digits, Grant started mixing and matching his lineups. Kany Tchanda checked in and promptly committed a bad turnover (BC would commit an ugly 16 of them) and followed it up with a wild layup attempt on the next possession. SMU took the lead for good with 6:32 remaining in the first half, led by a 17-point explosion from SMU F Matt Cross.
With the starters back out on the floor to start the second half, BC began to chip away at SMU’s lead. At the 15:53 mark, five straight Donald Hand points – including a nasty finish at the rack and a top-of-the-key trey ball – cut the deficit to five, and the Eagles had momentum. Dion Brown would draw the Eagles within 3 after layups on back-to-back possessions – but that was as close as the Eagles would get. After Roger McFarland missed the front end of a 1-and-1, SMU quickly reestablished a seven-point lead and landed a transition alley-oop that took the air out of Conte Forum. After that, it was total capitulation from the Eagles, who went on to lose 103-77.
I’ll address some of these points in more depth in my column this week, but this loss really stings because it definitely seemed winnable at times. And I think Earl Grant’s brutal game mismanagement – in every aspect from gameplanning, to substitutions and lineups, to timeout usage – was by the far the biggest reason this game got so out of hand. Grant needs to start making some serious decisions, because at times his team looks utterly lost. I’ve discussed at length how badly the perimeter defense has hurt the team; I have yet to see sustained progress. I’ve discussed the need for Grant to start narrowing his rotation; 11(!) players saw the floor today. It isn’t sustainable, and BC is headed for a very ugly season unless Grant can right the ship.