Boston College coach Earl Grant has made his presence felt at the ACC tournament in his two seasons at the Heights.
The No. 10 seed Eagles had four players in double figures in an 80-62 thrashing of No. 15 Louisville in an opening round match Tuesday at Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. The victory upped Grant’s record to 3-1 in the conference postseason play. BC improved to 16-16 and 10-11 will face No. 7 seed North Carolina (19-12, 11-9) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Guards Makai Ashton-Lanford and Jaeden Zackery combined for 31 points, while forwards Prince Aligbe and Devin McGlockton pooled 25 more. BC finished with a 40-26 advantage on the boards.
“We really wanted to be playing our best basketball in March,” said Grant. “We talked about it being our best basketball in March with a chance to advance.
“They found a way to get a win. We are looking forward to moving on and preparing for the next one.”
BC's chances were compromised before the opening tip when senior center Quinten Post, the Eagles’ dominant presence in the paint, was scratched from the lineup. Post rolled his right ankle on another player’s foot at 17:18 of the first half of BC’s 73-65 loss to Georgia Tech in the regular season finale on Saturday.
Post averages 15.7 points and 5.7 rebounds a game and Grant tried to replicate those numbers through rotating frontcourt combinations involving T.J. Bickerstaff, C.J Penha, McGlockton and Aligbe.
“He had a pretty good practice yesterday (Monday) but not to the point where he felt like he can move and defend and run the way we need him to run in these games,” said Grant. “We’ll take it day to day.”
BC went up 11-9 at 13:52 when Ashton-Langford buried consecutive trays for the third lead change of the half. McGlockton drove the lane to give BC a 13-10 lead into the second media timeout.
Louisville forward Jae’Lyn Withers cut the lead to 15-14 on a drive with 8:48 to play. BC went ahead 21-15 prior to the third media timeout on an off-balance fadeaway on the baseline by DeMarr Langford Jr. Langford missed the final two games of the regular season with an undisclosed illness.
BC went up double digits, 25-15, on two from the line by Zackery with 5:56 on the board. Louisville responded with a 10-0 run that that featured a five-point play with 4:32 to play.
JJ Traynor launched a corner trey as Bickerstaff was fouling Brandon Huntley-Hatfield under the basket. Huntley-Hatfield made the free throws. Louisville outscored BC 9-4 down the stretch to go up 34-31 at the break.
“We could have been more sound and more disciplined,” Grant said. “We could clean it up in the second half and we did.”
The second half opened with stellar play from both camps that saw five lead changes and two ties into the first media timeout. Bickerstaff tied the game 43-43 with two from the line with 16:08 on the clock.
BC went up 49-45 at the second media timeout on a slicing drive through the paint by Zackery, who scored five straight points. Zackery capped a 9-5 run with one from the line to give BC a 58-51 lead after the third media timeout.
Mason Madsen gave BC a 63-51 lead with a trey and a runner off the glass with 6:05 to play. Zackery chipped it with a follow and a 3-point play to make it 67-54 with 4:30 to play. BC continued the run to the buzzer.
“I felt like it was just a whole team effort,” Zackery said. “We knew that me and Makai and Prince and every single person on the team had to play collectively.”
