Home sweet as Eagles top ’Noles
Boston College has transformed Conte Forum into a difficult destination in the ACC.
The Eagles improved to 13-6 overall and 11-1 on their home hardwood with last night’s 8175 victory against Florida State. BC evened its ACC record at 3-3 with pending road engage- ments against Louisville and Syracuse. The Seminoles fell to
13-5, 2-4 in the conference.
“In this league, if you don’t protect your home court, you’re in trouble,” BC coach Jim Christian said. “That’s how long stretches of tough games come, and we have two on the road coming up.
“You’ve got to win these games at home to give yourself a chance. The courage these guys showed tonight was amazing. This was a war out there.”
BC shot 46.4 percent from the floor with nine 3-pointers, 20 free throws and 16 assists. Guard Ky Bowman netted 19 points with 13 defensive rebounds and five assists. Jerome Robinson scored 19 while Jordan Chatman had 14. BC big men Nik Popovic and Steffon Mitchell combined for 27 points and 14 rebounds.
BC’s zone defense was effective. Florida State was 27-of-80 (33.8 percent) from the floor and 5-of-26 (19.2 percent) from behind the 3-point line.
The Seminoles stayed in contention with 42 points in the paint, 21 offensive rebounds and the dribble penetration of guard CJ Walker, who finished with 19 points and six assists.
“We played a lot of zone tonight to keep them out of the lane, and we did a really good job for most of the game understanding who was catching the ball for them,” Christian said.
“We did a really good job creeping up on the shooters and playing off the drivers and making them shoot the ball. You have to win with intelligence.”
Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton put intense pressure on the BC backcourt at both ends of floor, expecting fatigue and foul trouble would become factors later in the game.
Wake Forest coach Danny Manning used a similar tact in BC’s 77-71 win on Jan. 6. Bowman, Robinson and Chatman are in the top 10 in the ACC in minutes per game, and they combined for 117 last night.
“There was 40 minutes of pressure, and we don’t play a ton of guys,” Christian said. “You have to be mentally tough, you have to be physically tough to handle the basketball in stretches, and we did an unbelievable job of both ends.”
Bowman opened the second half with his third trey, and BC took a 49-30 lead. Walker scored seven points on a 9-0 Florida State run that made it 49-39 with 12:50 to play.
Turnovers and iffy shot selection slowed the game’s torrid pace during a five-minute stretch, but the Eagles were able to maintain their doubledigit lead. Mitchell hit two free throws to give BC a 62-47 lead with 7:59 remaining.
Braian Angola hit a fall-away 3-point shot from the top of the key, and Terrance Mann made two from the line to cut the Seminoles deficit to 68-61 with 4:36 to play. BC sank 13-of-14 free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
“We know we have to win free throws to win games like that,” Robinson said. “You can’t miss them in this league, and we take them a lot in shoot-around and practice making swishes.”