The Boston College men’s basketball team was back on the road this weekend, as it traveled to Coral Gables, Fla. to take on the University of Miami Hurricanes in an ACC matchup. Coming off of a miraculous overtime win against Syracuse last Wednesday night in front of 26,716 fans in the Carrier Dome, the Eagles enjoyed a confidence boost heading into their game against the ‘Canes. BC’s win over the Orange snapped a five-game losing streak, giving the Eagles an opportunity to turn their season around. Steve Donahue’s club was not able to hit enough open looks, though, and Miami breezed by the Eagles with a 69-42 victory.
BC was hoping to stop another streak for Miami, who had emerged victorious from the past seven meetings between the two ACC programs headed into Saturday.
The two sides were competitive for the first 10 minutes of play, before a couple of short runs by the Hurricanes created a seven-point lead for the hosts with 10:24 left in the first. The burst was capped by a layup from Miami sophomore center Tonye Jeriki.
The Eagles were able to cut the lead to one with free throws from sophomore guard Joe Rahon, but Miami was able to create high percentage opportunities throughout the first half and took a five-point lead headed into the break.
The Hurricanes started the second half with a missed jumpshot by forward Kirk Donnavan, but guard Garrius Adams followed up by hitting a 3-pointer to increase their lead to eight.
Shots from outside the arc were not falling for the Eagles in the second half. Donahue’s team missed all eight of its 3-pointers after halftime, making just four of 20 on the night. Patrick Heckmann knocked down three triples in the first half, before going cold.
With five minutes of the second half played, BC needed to capitalize on its missed shots if it was to win consecutive games for the first time since November, but the Eagles failed to do so. Anderson’s put-back from a Heckmann attempt from distance accounted for just two of BC’s four second-chance points.
At the 15:42 mark, two free throws from senior guard Rion Brown gave Miami an 11-point lead on which they would build.
Anderson missed a jumper and junior guard Lonnie Jackson failed to hit another three, paving the way for a jumpshot from Brown to increase the Hurricane’s lead to 13.
The game was still within grasp for the Eagles, who were striving to mount another comeback. A monster dunk from Miami’s Jeriki kept was able to bolster the home team’s advantage. After 10 minutes of play in the second half, the game seemed to get out of hand for the Eagles as their missed shots and turnovers handed Miami multiple chances to further its lead.
Freshman guard Manu Lecomte’s layup and jumpshot, in addition to a deuce from senior forward Erik Swoope, extended the Hurricane’s lead to 17.
As the game waned into its final five minutes, the Eagles could not find a way back into the game. A layup from Brown increased the lead to 20 with 4:50 to play.
A scoreless two minutes from both teams kept the lead at 20 until Heckmann added two to the board with a simple layup.
The closing moments of the game consisted of a desperate attempt to make something of a dissatisfying performance. Olivier Hanlan, Sam Donahue, and Steve Perpiglia missed three shots from behind the arc.
Heckmann led the Eagles with 15 points while Miami’s Rion Brown picked up 22. Brown scored the 1,000th point of his career, becoming the 35th player in school history to tally that many points.
