BC’s not half bad in opener
Big run after break enough for Eagles
Boston College basketball coach Jim Christian saw maturity from his veterans and promise from his freshman in last night’s season opener at Conte Forum.
The Eagles recovered from a ragged first half with a dominant performance in the second and coasted to a 73-53 victory over Milwaukee in a nonleague affair. The Eagles outscored the Panthers 46-16 in the second
BOSTON COLLEGE 73 MILWAUKEE 53
half and finished with a 4938 advantage on the boards.
Junior point Ky Bowman led BC with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists while freshman guard Wynston Tabbs played 31:30 and netted 16 in his debut.
Center Nik Popovic scored 12 points with seven boards while sophomore forward Steffon Mitchell grabbed 14 rebounds, one shy of his career high.
“All you want from these early games is to get experience and we got experience for Wynston Tabbs and the older guys showed maturity and leadership,” Christian said.
“I couldn’t have written the script any better and I don’t care about the score or that we got down. It’s a great chance to show maturity and growth and that’s what came out of it tonight.”
The Eagles were atrocious in the first half, shooting 28.6 percent from the floor overall and 1-of-10 from behind the arc. Milwaukee took advantage with timely outside shooting to take a 37-27 lead at the half.
“The message was settle down,dowhatwedoandwe had to get some stops so we could get out in transition,” Christian said. “I don’t think we got any easy baskets in the first half and I knew we were going to make some shots when we got our defense under control.”
The stops, the boards and the transition baskets came in bunches throughout the second half. The Eagles opened the frame with a 14-3 run that began on a corner trey by Bowman and ended on a 3-point play by Popovic that put BC up 41-40 with 15:09 to play.
BC maintained its momentum and took a 46-42 lead on a Mitchell put-back with 12:28 left. The Eagles achieved a measure of separation at the midway point by dominating the defensive glass and finishing their breakouts.
Senior guard Jordan Chatman drained a corner 3-ball that put BC up 54-46 with 8:09 remaining. Bowman closed out a 12-3 Eagles surge with a runner off the glass that made it 62-48.
“He (Bowman) was the alpha dog since he’s been here,” Christian said. “He showed great composure and I thought in the first half he didn’t panic and he stayed with finding guys.
“They were kind of corralling him with three guys every time he would go to the basketball and he was finding the right guys. His message to them was keep shooting the ball and what happens, they make shots in the second half.
“Then the lanes opened up and he’s able to score. He was the leader out there today. He was the leader in the huddle, the leader in the locker room and he was teaching the young guys during the game and that’s what you want from your best player.”