Eagles Stumble At UVA

The Boston College men's basketball team went into Thursday night's game against No. 19 Virginia coming off back-to-back losses in the ACC. The Cavaliers continued that trend, as their 66-49 win handed the Eagles their third loss in a row by double digits.

This one was different, however: BC played solid basketball for the vast majority of the game and showed improved maturity and skill. With 10:29 left in the second half, Danny Rubin hit a three to tie the game at 44, and with 4:14 to go, the Cavaliers held a six-point lead. But from that point on, they took control of the game and used what amounted to be a 22-3 run to put the game out of reach.

The Eagles started the game off hot, as they took a 7-2 lead over the first few minutes of the game. Ryan Anderson fueled BC's run by scoring nine of its first 11 points. One of those buckets came on a terrific spin move in the lane for a layup. After his blistering start, Virginia defended him more closely, and he finished with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Anderson also pulled down 10 rebounds, giving him his fifth double-double of the season.

His partner in the interior, Dennis Clifford, also had a great game for the Eagles. The Cavaliers routinely doubled Clifford in the low post, oftentimes immediately after he received the ball. He showed great passing ability out of the double team, finding open teammates on the perimeter. In addition, his shot was working, as he swished a couple of high-difficulty lefty hooks. Clifford finished the game with eight points on 4-of-8 shooting.

Clifford's play looks even better given the fact that he was matched up with forward Mike Scott of the Cavaliers. ESPN's color commentator called him "the best inside player in the ACC," and with an average of 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds a game while shooting 57 percent, he certainly deserves the praise. On Thursday, Scott had 18 points and made seven of his 11 shots. The majority of those were well defended by the Eagles, however, including Clifford, who registered two blocked shots.

BC's defense, as a whole, was solid, even though the box score may paint a different picture. While Virginia did shoot over 50 percent from the field, most of those makes were well contested by BC. The Eagles threw a number of different defensive looks at the Cavaliers, including a 2-3 zone, man-to-man, and press. For most of the game the combination worked, as a number of their scoring plays were recorded against a stiff BC defense.

Gabe Moton had a great block against opposing point guard Jontel Evans, and overall, he and Jordan Daniels defended the perimeter well. Coming into the game, Evans had only attempted nine threes the entire season, so Moton and Daniels played off of him. The decision to give him the three worked—Evans didn't attempt one all game, and BC's guards cut down on his passing lane.

While Daniels  only finished 2-of-7 from the field, he had a number of fine drives in the lane and led BC's offense with great poise. Earlier in the season, it was common to see a stagnant offense from the Eagles, with 3-pointers hoisted as the shot clock wound down. This was certainly not the case on Thursday, as the team showed great movement with and without the ball.

Both Matt Humphrey and Lonnie Jackson also contributed to this aggressive play. Humphrey, who had struggled of late, picked it up against the Cavaliers with a couple of clutch threes, and finished with zero turnovers in 28 minutes. That wasn't true of all the Eagles, unfortunately, as BC once again lost the turnover battle, 15-8. Two of those were made by Danny Rubin, who again saw increased minutes off the bench. Rubin knocked down both of his 3-pointers this game, including the aforementioned game-tying triple.

Unfortunately, BC couldn't finish what was a solid 35-minute performance. But during those minutes, the Eagles showed they could play with a nationally ranked opponent on the road. In the future, when BC's in a close game away from home, they'll likely be more confident knowing that they've been there before.