On Wednesday night in Cassell Coliseum, Boston College hit a season-high 12 3-pointers en route to an 82-76 win over Virginia Tech, the fifth straight defeat the Hokies have suffered in the series.
Though the Eagles (12-13, 6-8 ACC) ranked 341st in the country in 3-point percentage entering the contest, they couldn’t seem to miss. After making seven of their 15 attempts in the first half, which helped them to a 39-27 lead at recess, they made five in the second half.
Quinten Post led the way with a team-high 24 points and drilled three treys, all in the first 20 minutes. Boston College was without starter DeMarr Langford Jr., who head coach Earl Grant listed as day-to-day on Monday, and sophomore Jaeden Zackery only saw seven minutes due to an injury. But true freshman Chas Kelley III played a season-high 27 minutes and scored 17 off the bench.
Grant Basile had a game-high 33 points for the Hokies (14-10, 4-9 ACC) on 12-of-21 shooting, and he dished out four assists. It's the second 30-point game he's recorded this season. However, the rest of the team was 14-of-41 (34%).
“I thought those kids took great shots,” Tech head coach Mike Young said after the loss. “[But they] didn’t seem to have their same pop. I think consequently, that’s very rare for our teams. That affected our defense, too, and that can’t happen.
“You’re going to have some nights when you don’t shoot it as well, but you’ve got to continue to do the right things and rely on your habits defensively, and we didn’t do that.”
The Hokies only turned it over five times, which tied a season low. It’s the fewest in a loss since the 2014 ACC tournament vs. Miami. But Boston College held them to 42% shooting, which really limited production.
Tech missed 15 of its final 20 shots over the final 15 minutes in the first half; BC went on a 32-14 run and pulled away over that stretch. Though the team was a bit better after intermission (44% instead of 39%), it couldn’t complete the comeback.
Basile scored 25 in the second half and helped the Hokies inch within four points with 18 seconds to play. Young said he "gave everything he had in his tank." And it helped that Boston College only made five of its final 15 field goals over the final eight minutes. But Kelley nailed two free throws that sealed Tech's fate.
Outside of Basile, no other offensive option was consistent for Tech. While the looks weren’t the worst, they didn’t get down; only 10-of-32 3-pointers found the bottom of the net, and VT only hit 2-of-13 in the first half.
The Eagles picked their poison and shut down Hunter Cattoor and Sean Pedulla. The duo, which combined for 32 points and 9-of-23 vs. then-No. 6 Virginia on Saturday, were 6-of-23 for 20 points. Almost all of that came in the second half, too; they were 1-of-10 for three points in the first 20 minutes.
“Our coach always talks about hunting, and on the road, he preaches we have to be six-to-eight points better,” Kelley said. “We were a unit. … Virginia Tech has a lot of guys who like to hunt shots, which can make a team very dangerous. Our communication on the defensive end, that was really big for the win.”
Pedulla finished in double figures with 12 points while Justyn Mutts added 16. But the Hokies didn’t have the firepower to keep up with a Boston College team that was lights out from behind the arc.
Tech did a good job defending Makai Ashton-Langford, who was the key to BC’s win in December, holding him to nine points. However, he had 12 assists. The ball movement was fantastic for the Eagles, who finished with 24 assists on 29 made baskets while outrebounding the Hokies by 10, 40-30.
“The biggest thing for that defense is the pick-and-roll,” Post said. “They really struggle to guard the late rolls, so we were really playing on that.”
Post and Kelley were huge, as was Devin McGlockton’s 14 points (6-of-7). Seven different players chipped in to help the Eagles shoot 49%. And their bench outscored Tech by 22 points, 29-7. That was a problem for the Hokies in Chestnut Hill, too, where they had just one bench point.
“They’re a really good defensive team,” BC head coach Earl Grant said. “They make it hard for you to score. They’re in their gaps, usually in good position. So we wanted to move them and spread them out, because trying to get anything on the first side, it’s hard to get to the paint.
“I thought we did a really good job of being mature, which we always haven’t been. … But today was a good step – we were mature enough to get to the second or third side to give the defense a chance to break down.”
Now the Hokies turn to a two-game stretch on the road at Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. They’ve yet to win away from Cassell Coliseum, posting an 0-7 record. The losses have come by an average of 5.6 points, and three – BC, Wake Forest and Clemson – were one-possession games.
With seven regular season games remaining, Tech’s résumé isn’t completely ruined. Two Quadrant 1 games with Miami (home) and Duke (away) remain. But it didn’t exactly do itself any favors losing a Quadrant 4 game on Wednesday night. Logic would indicate that any hope for a postseason berth would require some magic and an almost-perfect end to the season.
"I've seen us be really good,” Young said. “And [I] know that we have it. It's got to be night-in and night-out. And it has been here for a bit. We've got seven left – four on the road, three at home. Load it up, let's go play."
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