Wake Forest 71, BC 56: Eagles Overwhelmed by Deacs

Not only is Boston College’s brief ACC flare over, it’s nowhere to be seen.

On Saturday afternoon, Boston College men’s basketball was defeated by the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 71-56, at Conte Forum. The Eagles have fallen to 7-12 (2-3) on the season, and it was Wake’s first ACC road win under Jeff Bzdelik.

From start to finish, the Eagles played a bad game; there is no way to sugarcoat it. As a matter of fact, Boston College never led at any point, nor did they ever even tie the game after Wake got out to a 2-0 lead. It is easy to see why, as BC shot 28.6% and missed nine of ten three-pointers in the first half.

The second half was not much better, though the Eagles did have one point in particular where they narrowed the game to a four-point deficit. The turning point of the game came when Boston College had forced a Wake Forest turnover down 4 and Matt Humphrey ended up with the ball and shot a wide-open three when the Eagles had a numbers advantage. Humphrey missed and Wake Forest came down the floor for two easy points, pushing it back to a six-point game. From there, the Deacs were off to the races and the Eagles never got back in the contest.

For the whole game, the Eagles shot a paltry 31.1%, made just four of twenty-one threes (19.0%), and turned the ball over 12 times as is their modus operandi. Furthermore, Wake Forest scored a boatload of points in the paint and the Eagles had no answer for the Deacs’ size and inside presence.

(note: the official box score was later updated to indicate McKie had 20 points and 10 rebounds)

Usually, there is something positive to take from BC’s efforts, even in a loss, but not this time. Ryan Anderson ending up with a double-double seems almost like an afterthought; this was a pitiful performance by Boston College, following an equally-pitiful performance against NC State. When the Eagles fight hard and play with purpose and focus, as they have done in certain prior games, they deserve all the credit. Unfortunately, none of those things were evident today. BC looked lost on the court against Wake, and possibly frustrated and/or overwhelmed. Even though the scoreboard said the Eagles were in the game, it never really felt as much with their very lackluster shooting, poor shot selection, and general ineffectiveness.

We all knew what this season was going to be; one must accept that while this team will have a few triumphs, there will be many ugly defeats like this one. The news does not get much better for the Eagles, however, as their next game is on Thursday night against a much-improved Virginia.