Anatomy of a Loss: Boston College/Harvard

Just when things were looking up for Boston College, it happened again.

Let's throw out the cliches...

• BC must have been looking past Harvard
• Exams took a toll on BC
• Rakim Sanders is still out, if he had only played

You might read those statements in some places, but all three are absolute garbage.  Keep in mind that Harvard beat Boston College last year too, so if the Eagles weren't taking the game seriously there are bigger problems.  Sure, it is exam season (although I don't know off the top of my head where BC is with exams), but these kids are given more than enough time to make sure their academics are in check.  Boston College is a team coming off three consecutive wins, a team that I just ranked as the 4th best team in the ACC in my latest power rankings.  Did Sanders absence hurt them while beating Providence, Michigan, or Miami?

The game wasn' t televised, so I have to rely on our enhanced box score to tell the story.  If you were there, let us know what you saw.  The question is, what exactly happened last night?

• For the second year in a row, the Eagles were unable to stop Jeremy Lin.  Lin scored 25 points on 7-10 shooting last night, compared to the 27 points he totaled in last year's loss.
• For the second straight year, BC won the rebounding battle.  Last night, the Eagles grabbed 33% of their own misses and 72% of their opponent's misses.
• This year BC won the turnover percentage battle although the margin wasn't enough to make a significant difference.
• Last season, Harvard won the game on the free throw line making nearly 90% of their 23 attempts, but this season BC held their own at the line.
• Often times when such an upset happens, the three point shot is the focal point.  That said, Harvard shot under 30% from 3 point range for the 2nd straight year against Boston College.
• It appears the common theme between the two games is actually the two point shot.  Harvard was 21-37 (57%) from two point range, while Boston College was 16-43 (37%).  Last season, same story.  Harvard was 22-35 (63%) while BC was 27-53 (51%).
• To see why Harvard shot the 2 point shot better, we must look at the types of shots that were taken.  35% of BC's shots last night were classified as jumpshots, compared to only 17% for Harvard.  In the 2008 matchup, the same trend shows as 39% of BC's shots were jumpers compared to 14% for Harvard.

In looking at the past few wins against Michigan and Miami, it appears Boston College typically takes a lot of jumpers with their modified flex offense.  What is evident is that BC's jumpshot totals are typically very comparable to their opponents, but the Harvard games show a big difference in jumpshot totals. 

The simple answer is BC's defense just hasn't been good enough against Harvard the past two years.  In both games, Harvard posted an offensive efficiency over 107 because they simply were giving up too many good shots.  Anyone know if Harvard is on the schedule again next year?