The Boston College Eagles dropped their third consecutive home game, falling to Wake Forest by a score of 83-63 in front of a packed house in Conte Forum. This was Wake Forests first ever victory over Boston College.
Wake Forest entered the game ranked second in the nation in the AP Poll, and they certainly looked like a team worthy of such a ranking. BC appeared to be overmatched in the first half, both physically and athletically. Wake jumped out to an early start and set the tempo early. The Demon Deacons ran up and down the court with ease, throwing lob passes and finishing with rim rattling dunks. In the first half alone Wake scored 32 points off of dunks and layups, most of which were uncontested. Turnovers and sloppy passing created easy fast break opportunities for the Demon Deacons.
BC’s defensive struggles continued this game. Wake Forest was able to exploit mismatches and use their distinct size advantage to dominate the paint. For the game BC was outscored 54-22 in the paint and was outrebounded 38-27.
Boston College had 16 turnovers in the game, including 8 by Tyrese Rice. Rice acknowledged his turnovers hurt the team, “if I have eight turnovers, I don't think we're going to beat anybody."
Jeff Teague led the way for Wake Forest with 29 points. The majority of his baskets came off fast break dunks and layups. His quickness off the dribble and ability to create around the rim gave the BC defense fits all night. Teague was the major reason Wake Forest led at the half 47-27 scoring 15 first half points. Al-Farouq Aminu, the sensational freshman added 15 points and 8 rebounds.
The Eagles looked like a different team in the second half. As the pace slowed, Boston College was able to get into their half court sets and contain the high-flying Wake Forest attack. BC trailed by as much as 25 early in the second half, but continued to battle against this much more talented Wake Forest squad.
The Eagles received a spark off the bench from Biko Paris, who checked into the game for the first time around the 13-minute mark in the second half. Biko ignited a BC run by playing excellent full court pressure defense and adding 7 points in his limited time.
Reggie Jackson scored only 4 points in the game, but filled the stat sheet with 3 steals, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Jackson’s energetic and aggressive defense ignited the comeback by BC. He also provided one of the few highlights offensively when he caught an alley-oop from Rice and slammed it down one-handed in the first half.
BC was able to cut the lead to 9 points at 64-55 after a Tyrese Rice three pointer with 8 minutes remaining, much to the enjoyment of the crowd. However, following a Wake timeout BC allowed a basket by Wake Forest’s James Johnson (11points, 8 rebounds) and there were not able to convert on several opportunities on their following possession.
Joe Trapani played well scoring 20 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Trapani also played strong defense in the second half.
Rice scored 20 points on 7-13 shooting (4-7 from threes), but had only 4 assists compared to his 8 turnovers in the game. Rice said of his turnovers following the game, “sometimes it's maybe trying to over-create…sometimes it's maybe not being on the same page.”
Rakim Sanders had one of his worst performances of the year. He scored 4 points on 1-8 shooting and had 5 turnovers in the game, including a very poor inbounds near the end of the first half that really deflated the team. Sanders was never able to get into a rhythm offensively and was a non-factor on the defensive end. Raji played just 18 minutes and scored 4 points. Corey may have been hampered by the lingering effects of his groin injury that he sustained last week.
Recently promoted head coach Frank Spaziani was announced at center court during a media timeout during the first half. Spaziani received a warm standing ovation from the crowd of 8.606 as he attempted to motivate the crowd to “get it going” for the basketball team.
The inconsistency is a big concern for this team. Hopefully we can fix our mistakes and make the necessary adjustments because the team cannot afford to lose 3 in a row at home down the stretch. The loss drops BC to 13-5 on the year, 1-2 in the ACC. Wake Forest improves to 15-0, 2-0 in the ACC.
