Boston College 76, Virginia Tech 52: Eagles Sweep Hokies With Big Win

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

On Wednesday night at Conte Forum, the Boston College Eagles defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies, 76-52.

By margin, it was the Eagles’ largest victory of the season, improving their record to 6-14 (2-5) on the year. Both of Boston College’s ACC wins have been against the Hokies. This was also their second-largest win in terms of margin in ACC play since joining.

The Eagles made fourteen three-pointers on the night and came out playing zone defense, the kind of adjustment the team had been loath to make early in the season, but it frustrated an already poor Virginia Tech team into more mistakes.

Joe Rahon led the Eagles with 20 points, while Ryan Anderson had 18. Patrick Heckmann came up with 14 points off of the bench. Jarell Eddie led all scorers with 22 points; no other Hokie broke double-figures.

There is very little negative to say about the Eagles from a performance standpoint as a result of this game, in what was one of the best they’ve had this year. Since wins have been rare, our moratorium on nitpicks following a victory will stand.

Some things to take away from this performance are as follows:

• Virginia Tech is very bad. This is truly an embarrassing loss for the Hokies, who will have their own questions about the coaching situation to answer. Given that they have a new athletic director, the hammer is probably going to swing in Blacksburg.

• The threes actually went in. Boston College shoots a lot of threes all the time, and tonight they launched 36 of them, but the difference is they fell tonight.

• In terms of long-term takeaways, there were none. The most delicate way to put it is that fans should take care not to go too crazy about the implications of this game. Enjoy the victory but keep it real.

All season, this Boston College team has earned some very strong criticism. If we are going to be fair, it makes sense to give them credit when they play well. Yes, Virginia Tech played a horrible game, but the Eagles did just fine on their own. In a vacuum, that is to say looking at this game as an individual performance, they deserve praise for it. The team’s record is what it is and there’s little anyone can do about it, but any fun coming from Boston College basketball is welcomed.

The Eagles return to action on Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame.