Maryland 88, Boston College 80: Eagles Sink in ACC Opener
By Joe Micik
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
On Thursday evening at Conte Forum, the Maryland Terrapins defeated the Boston College Eagles in their 2013-14 ACC opener, 88-80.
With the loss, the Eagles have fallen to 3-7 (0-1) on the season and are winless in three December games so far.
The Eagles fell behind by twelve points in the first half, eventually rallying to retake the lead in the second, growing that advantage to as many as four. Late in the contest, however, Dez Wells and Maryland reasserted themselves, taking advantage of Boston College’s lack of interior defense to get buckets, draw contact, and put the game away.
Garland Owens played a strong game for the Eagles, while Olivier Hanlan did some very nice things on the offensive end of the court as well. Owens posted a career-high 16 points while Hanlan led the way for the Eagles with 26. The only other Boston College player in double-figures was Ryan Anderson with 14. Maryland’s Dez Wells led all scorers with 33, leading the Terps who shot 55 percent from the field.
Once again, Boston College’s complete lack of defense came back to hurt them. They showed some level of pride in erasing a double-digit deficit to take their lead, but when push comes to shove, other teams push and shove them around on defense and the Eagles are incapable of stopping their opposition. It has not gotten any better, and there is no reason to expect that it will after ten deficient games.
The question now is not if Boston College can salvage something from their season — rather, it is how bad this will get. Realistically speaking, the Eagles could end non-conference play at Harvard with a 4-10 or 5-9 record, at which point a 20+ loss season seems highly likely given the quality of the ACC schedule. This enormously disappointing season is not at all the year the Eagles and its fans expected, and the pressure is escalating on head coach Steve Donahue and his players.
Boston College returns to the floor on Sunday to face Philadelphia University.