Eagles A Little Short of Tar Heels
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College was just a little short all night long against North Carolina. In many respects, that makes the game a little symbolic of the season to this point.
There were times that the Eagles led during their 77-72 loss to North Carolina on Saturday night, but for most of the evening they were right behind them. On several occasions in the second half, the Tar Heels looked poised to break the game open, but the Eagles would answer each time to stay right in it and even tie it at 61. In fact, the Tar Heels never led by double digits.
For Boston College to be right there with the deep and talented Tar Heels speaks volumes about this team. The Eagles go with eight players, two of whom played limited minutes, and they have three legitimate options at the offensive end. That means there’s very little margin for error, especially if one of their Big Three isn’t on, as was the case with Sean Marshall in the first half (just two points on 0-3 shooting). Marshall finished with 14 points, ten of which came within less than seven minutes in the second half.
“I’m not at all disappointed about my club,” said head coach Al Skinner. “I’d like to win like everybody else, but I can respect and appreciate a great effort, and I think we got that. You want to win, but I have to appreciate a what happened on the floor. There was no quit, we fought through it.”
Besides having the lead on a couple of occasions, the Eagles certainly had their chances in this game. Most will point to Jared Dudley missing three free throws with 1:27 left and the Eagles down 73-70, but like any game, this one wasn’t won or lost on a single play and that one alone shouldn’t be what people look back on.
With a little over four minutes left, Dudley made a great steal off an attempted outlet pass and threw it out to a streaking Tyrese Rice. But instead of driving to either get a layup or short jumper or pass the ball back if the defenders committed, he missed a pull-up three-pointer with just two defenders back in the neighborhood. That was a questionable decision that didn’t help the comeback effort, especially when the Tar Heels got the ball up the court and got a three-pointer from Reyshawn Terry, who scored all ten of his points in the second half. That put the Tar Heels up 73-66 and was arguably a bigger back-breaker than Dudley’s three free throw misses.
In the first half, the Tar Heels were able to build a lead in part from some telegraphed passes they intercepted and turned into baskets. They constantly substituted and were dominant on the boards, as they had more offensive rebounds (10) than the Eagles had total rebounds (7). Still, the Eagles were only down 44-38 as they shot 59 percent from the field.
Marshall’s play in spurts helped serve to highlight the margin for error Boston College has. Only Dudley (22 points), Rice (his fifth consecutive 20+ point effort with 20) and Marshall reached double figures in scoring. John Oates is at times unconscious and his shots will sometimes go and sometimes not, and Shamari Spears is not a major offensive option. Marquez Haynes and Tyrelle Blair bring defense more than anything else off the bench, and Tyler Roche isn’t ready to contribute a great deal offensively just yet.
“Obviously, we have limited resources, so we’ve got to make the most of them,” said Skinner.
North Carolina is now in a tie with Virginia for first place in the ACC with this win. The Eagles are a half game right behind both – a little short, as it were. The fact that they are right there, however, doesn’t say anything about where they will ultimately end up. Saturday night’s game could have turned in BC’s favor, indicative that they could just as easily make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament as they could get bounced in the first round. Skinner appreciates the effort his team gave, knowing that though they appear to be just a little short, this team is capable of getting over the hump.
Not to mention, being a little short of North Carolina is nothing to be ashamed of.
