Incomplete Once Again

In its game against Miami yesterday afternoon at Conte Forum, the key stat for the young Boston College Eagles was size, or rather, their lack of it. It was evident from a quick glance at the court during warm-ups that the Eagles were going to be physically overmatched throughout the game, and that proved to be the case as the Hurricanes dismantled BC in the final seven minutes, coming away with the 76-54 win.

Miami started two players larger than 6-foot-10 in forward Kenny Kadji and center Reggie Johnson. Height was not going to be the only factor in the mismatch down low, but overall size in general, as forward Ryan Anderson and center Dennis Clifford were giving up 77 pounds between them to these two 'Canes.

Despite the mismatch in size, BC opened up the game playing active, energized defense, limiting Miami's offensive attack. Every time the Hurricanes tried to go down low and let Johnson back down on Clifford, a double-team would immediately fall upon him, forcing him to kick out to teammates on the perimeter for contested jump shots. These double-teams, along with many Miami players insisting on shooting bad 3-pointers early in the shot clock, led to the Hurricanes shooting 16 3-pointers in the first half, making only four of them.

Meanwhile for the Eagles, guard Matt Humphrey was playing with the kind of energy and hustle that helps keep overmatched teams in games. He was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the first half for nine points, in addition to blocking two shots and adjusting countless others with quick feet and active hands. Humphrey's play, as well as good jump shooting from guards Jordan Daniels and Gabe Moton, largely contributed to BC finding itself down only three points at halftime despite being clearly overmatched in size, length, and athleticism.

Signs of trouble, however, were clearly present in the first half stat sheet. Miami led BC in all hustle stats, including points off turnovers, second-chance points, and fast-break points. The most troubling stat was Miami's 18 points in the paint to BC's eight. Despite the double teams, the Hurricanes' big men were still getting what they wanted down low and were disrupting nearly every BC shot attempt in the paint. Clifford struggled to keep pace with Miami's big men, going scoreless in the first half with only two rebounds and three turnovers. Taking care of the ball would be an issue all game long, and the first half was certainly no exception, as BC committed eight turnovers to Miami's two.

"You're not going to win games when you give the ball to the opponent and the reverse thing, we're not taking the ball from anybody. Turnovers eventually come up and catch you at the end," said head coach Steve Donahue after the game.

Indeed, the turnovers would come to catch BC in the end. The second half led to a complete turnaround in the play of both the Eagles and the Hurricanes. Miami began shooting less and feeding the big men down low, racking up a crucial 34 points in the paint. They also had 12 offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points, mostly thanks to Johnson and Kadji simply outmuscling and out-jumping the smaller BC defenders for easy buckets.

As much as the second-half turnaround was about what Miami did right, it was also about what the Eagles failed to do right. They struggled shooting the ball, going only 6-for-17 from the field and a dismal 2-for-10 from beyond the arc. Only Humphrey was in double digit scoring for the game. The Eagles didn't play as actively on defense as they did in the first half, forcing only three Miami turnovers. Despite all of this, BC once again found the game tied at 49 with seven minutes left to go in the second half.

Then disaster struck for the Eagles. Amid bad shots and crucial turnovers from BC, the Hurricanes went on a 27-5 run to end the game. During the last seven minutes, the Eagles committed six turnovers, including an offensive foul and a subsequent technical foul by guard Lonnie Jackson that led to four Miami points and all but put the game out of reach. BC would finish the game with 17 turnovers that resulted in 23 points for the Hurricanes.

As fatigue set in, the size of Miami played more and more of an impact on the game, as the Eagles were unable to convert makeable baskets down low. Physically, it looked as if Miami's speed and athleticism finally proved to be too overwhelming in the transition game down the stretch. BC went on  to lose by a final score of 76 to 54.

Going forward, it is evident that the Eagles need to find a way to fix this recurring issue of collapsing at the end of close games. It is easy to write this team off as young and inexperienced, but Donahue insists that it is their play, and not their age, that is causing them to lose in the final minutes of games.

"We have to play better," Donahue said. "Our Achilles' heel is that we are not great with the basketball, we don't share it enough, we aren't strong enough with it, we aren't that hard to guard at this point."

Hanging with a team that physically outmatched them like Miami did certainly bodes well for BC. This team can be hard to guard for the first 35 minutes of a game because it has the ability to get hot from outside and knock down jump shots, and Clifford is developing into a legitimate low-post threat. But when the Eagles commit turnovers down the stretch of games and play out of sync as they did at the end of this game, they become easier to stop.

Once Donahue's team figures out how to take care of the ball for the full 40 minutes, the crowds at Conte will be able to see the true potential of this promising Eagles squad.