CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College could have used a win like the one they appeared headed for much of Saturday afternoon. The Eagles looked to be well on their way to a convincing win over Clemson before the Tigers mounted a big comeback and got within one. The Eagles made the stops they needed to and held on for a 75-68 win, one that might have been a little too close for comfort under normal circumstances.
A win is a win, even if it wasn’t as comfortable as it once looked like it might be.
“Every positive thing in wins is really critical to everything we’re doing, there’s no way around that,” said head coach Steve Donahue. “When we don’t win – as we all do, when we don’t have success in life – it’s hard to stay confident. I think this was a great way to get these guys confident and feel good about themselves and continue to work. It was critical in a lot of different ways.”
Boston College came in having lost five straight, and they weren’t playing well all the while. They had chances against ACC leader Miami and Maryland, but lost both, and they also lost at Wake Forest to begin the skid. Defensively, the team was especially deficient; ACC opponents were shooting over 48 percent from the field against them coming into the game, including over 41 percent on three-pointers. On Saturday, they defended well save for the second-half rally, and even with that held the Tigers below 40 percent shooting.
Not only did Boston College build up a big lead, but they did so without getting much from Ryan Anderson and Olivier Hanlan, their top two scorers. BC had a 30-19 halftime lead despite just two points from Anderson and Hanlan, with the former laying an egg the way we have seldom seen in his time at The Heights. Anderson was better in the second half and finished with 12 points on 6-10 shooting, but even there he tried to get too fancy by throwing a behind the back pass to a cutter that went astray for a turnover.
Instead, it was Joe Rahon and Eddie Odio who led the way, with Rahon making shots and Odio flying all over the court anytime there was a loose ball. Later, Lonnie Jackson joined in the scoring, though he was solid the entire game and continues to shoot the ball extremely well after an early-season slump. Then Anderson made a couple of big baskets late to help BC hold off the Tigers.
Rahon scored a career-high 26 points, going 6-7 from long range, and Jackson had 14 points and six assists. Odio’s numbers – seven points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and three steals – don’t tell you how much he contributed. The highlight was when Clemson freshman Jordan Roper stole the ball and went in for a layup, and Odio got back in time to block it.
“I thought what Eddie was doing is exactly what we’re preaching, and he does it so well, I think you’re seeing his maturation right in front of you,” said Donahue.
The Eagles turned an 11-point halftime lead into a 20-point cushion just past the halfway point of the second half. Clemson didn’t show up to play, and the Eagles took advantage of it, for the most part. BC still had a 65-48 lead with 5:35 left when Clemson went on a 13-0 run to get back in the game. It was neck-and-neck the rest of the way.
“We knew we just slipped up a little bit mentally,” Rahon said of the Clemson rally. “Everyone did a good job of keeping staying poised and keeping their head about them.”
Boston College shot nearly 58 percent from the field, including 11-20 from long range. The Eagles had 20 assists and 14 turnovers on 26 field goals. Although they were 12-24 at the foul line (Anderson was 0-4), the offense was solid and clearly not the problem.
While the Eagles had to hang on at the end, they never surrendered the lead. Donahue also hopes that through the losses and having to hang on in Saturday’s game, they gained something besides a win.
“I think the guys can see now how we have to play to win in this league, and I thought you saw it on both sides of the ball for us today,” said Donahue.
After five straight losses, a win is all that matters. A comfortable win would have been the same as this seven-point one.
