The Song Remains the Same: Men’s Basketball falls to Maryland 64-59, drops to 1-4 in ACC play
By Kyle Egan
Jan 22, 2013; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins center Alex Len (25) defends Boston College Eagles forward Ryan Anderson (12) at Comcast Center. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
Another night, another close ACC loss for the Boston College Eagles. After a sluggish early start which saw Boston College getting eaten up on the perimeter, the Eagles were able to rebound with sharpshooting from Lonnie Jackson and Olivier Hanlan knotting the score at halftime to 29. But in the end Boston College wasn’t able to handle the prowess of the 7’1 255lb Ukranian Sophomore Alex Len who ravaged the Eagles on the boards with 13 rebounds to complement 16 points.
This storyline has definitely become commonplace for the Boston College Men’s Basketball program. It is able to take leads against the big boys, but it can’t finish for the life of it. It’s like Ted Mosby on “How I Met Your Mother”. You keep thinking that maybe his next date will be the one for him but no, it’s going to take nine seasons to figure out who the lucky woman is going to be. Boston College has chickened out at the altar during all of their ACC games. They have had the lead, yet they decide to get sloppy and give up their advantage. It’s absolutely mind boggling at times.
And then there is the free throw shooting horror that we have been subjected to the past couple of games. Continuing their streak from the Miami game, the Eagles only made 10 out of 17 chances from the charity stripe. Now, I’m no John Wooden, but when give up that many opportunities for free points, you are most likely going to have a hard time winning the game. This is especially essential when you are only shooting 35.7%(20/56) from the floor.
However, as BC fans, we must look at the bright side. This is a young, growing team that has proven that it can stick around with the big boys(yes that is what I am calling the mediocre Maryland) for at least the first 37 minutes of the game. And with a proven guy like Alex Dragicevich finally being cleared to play next season, the Eagles will definitely have a solid shot at the tournament with a chance to go deep. Okay maybe that is just delusional BC fan talk. I’ll stop.