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Boston College Chronicle, Kinsey Ramsey ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS ACC Tournament, Day 1 #10 seed Georgia Tech-67, #15 seed Wake Forest-61 #14 seed North Carolina St.-64, #11 seed Notre Dame-58 #12 seed Pittsburgh-85, #13 seed Virginia Tech-74 ACC Tournament, Day 2 #5 seed Virginia-85, #12 seed Pittsburgh-62 #14 seed North Carolina St-94, #6 seed Miami (FL)-71 #7 seed Louisville-95, #10 seed Georgia Tech-67 #9 seed North Carolina-86, #8 seed Florida St.-74 ACC Tournament, Day 3 #1 seed Clemson-83, #9 seed North Carolina-72 #7 seed Louisville-73, #2 seed Duke-49 #5 seed Virginia-89, #4 seed Syracuse-81 #3 seed Boston College-99, #14 seed North Carolina St.-74 BC came out firing darts in the first half to streak to a 55-42 halftime edge. The Eagles then applied a strong defense in the 2nd half to run away from the Wolfpack and overwhelm the tourney’s Cinderella team by a 25 point margin. BC knocked down 63% of their FGA’s and 50% of the 3PA’s plus dominated the boards 40-21. Reserve SG Jason Dunn topped BC’s scoring with 16 points, PG Josh McFadgon had 17 points, SG James Lilly hit for 14 points, and reserve SF Michael Millford dropped in 13 points. ACC Tournament, Day 4 (Semifinals) #1 seed Clemson-77, #5 seed Virginia-74 #3 seed Boston College-69, #7 seed Louisville-58 The score was close and there were several lead changes in the early going of the first half. Midway through the half, though, Boston College’s offense clicked and the Eagles edged ahead to take a 41-31 lead at the break. The Eagles applied a strangling defense in the 2nd half to keep the Cardinals from mounting a challenge. Boston College came away with a solid 69-58 victory to send them to the championship game. Louisville’s shooting was limited to just 27%. The Eagles got scoring from throughout their lineup. PG Josh McFadgon was their only player to score in double figures and he finished with 13 points. ACC Tournament, Day 5 (Championship) #1 seed Clemson-72, #3 seed Boston College-65 BC and Clemson battled it out in the 1st half with 8 lead changes and 3 ties. But in the last 6 minutes the Tigers zipped past the Eagles, going up by as much as 11 points. BC came back in the final minutes but still trailed 45-38 when the teams headed for the locker room. The refs sent Clemson to the line 12 more times where they scored 12 more points than the Eagles. C Williams Yeaton scored 14 points and pulled down 8 boards for Clemson. A combination of good defense by Clemson and sloppy play by BC which led to numerous turnovers resulted in Clemson pulling away in the 2nd half. But trailing 61-48, Boston College went on an 8-0 run that got them back into the game and within 5 points with 7 minutes to play. The Eagles trimmed the lead to 69-65 with 2 minutes remaining. But BC was unable to sink a basket in the final 2 minutes and lost 72-65. BC had 20 turnovers compared to 11 by Clemson but outrebounded the Tigers 43-28. The game was won by Clemson by their getting to the foul line 17 more times where they scored 16 more points on free throws. Top scorers for BC were PG Josh McFadgon and SF Sam Dickens with 10 points apiece. C Courtland Reese pulled down 11 rebounds and SG James Lilly had 10 boards. But the leading scorer in the game was Clemson’s Williams Yeaton with 24 points. Boston College finished their season with a 23-9 record and the 11th best NET ranking. In the final Media Poll of the season, Boston College FINALLY edged into the rankings at #25. BOSTON COLLEGE PLAYER AND TEAM STATS TEAM STATS: Offense: 75.6 ppg (89th best in nation) 36.2 rpg (12th best in nation) 16.6 apg (263rd best in nation) Offensive rating: 102.8 (97th best in nation) Defense: 67.8 ppg (41st best in nation) 5.7 bpg (40th best in nation) 6.6 spg (260th best in nation) Defensive rating: 92.1 (14th best nation) Season records: Won 23, Lost 9 (season) Won 13, Lost 7 (ACC, 3rd place) NET Ranking: 11th best in nation Media Poll Top 25: #25 PLAYER STATS: PPG: Courtland Reese-14.5; Josh McFadgon-10.8; James Lilly-10.3; Sam Dickers-9.2; Marvin Reese-7.6; Jason Caldwell-6.1; Jason Dunn-5.6; Steve Ross-5.3; Michael Millford-3.8; Jon Ray-2.8; Willis Lofton-1.3; Earl Betts-1.2; Samuel King-0.8; Chris Nelson-0.0 RPG: James Lilly-6.8; Courtland Reese-6.6; Sam Dickens-5.9; Marvin Reese-4.8; Jason Caldwell-3.9; Steve Ross-3.2; Josh McFadgon-1.6; Michael Millford-1.6; Jason Dunn-1.5; Samuel King-0.7; Jon Ray-0.7, Earl Betts-0.7; Willis Lofton-0.5; Chris Nelson-0.0 APG: Josh McFadgon-3.9; James Lilly-3.0; Sam Dickens-1.9; Marvin Reese-1.3; Jason Caldwell-1.3; Jason Dunn-1.1; Courtland Reese-0.9; Steve Ross-0.9; Willis Lofton-0.9; Michael Millford-0.7; Jon Ray-0.6; Samuel King-0.6; Earl Betts-0.3; Chris Nelson-0.0 SPG: James Lilly-1.5; Sam Dickens-0.8; Marvin Reese-0.7; Courtland Reese-0.7; Jason Caldwell-0.6; Josh McFadgon-0.5; Michael Millford-0.5; Jason Dunn-0.5; Steve Ross-0.3; Willis Lofton-0.3; Samuel King-0.2; Earl Betts-0.2; Jon Ray-0.2; Chris Nelson-0.0 BPG: Marvin Reese-1.0; Sam Dickens-0.9; Courtland Reese-0.9; Josh McFadgon-0.9; James Lilly-0.6; Steve Ross-0.6; Jason Caldwell-0.4; Michael Millford-0.3; Jon Ray-0.2; Jason Dunn-0.1; Earl Betts-0.1; Willis Lofton-0.0; Samuel King-0.0; Chris Nelson-0.0

Boston Herald FINAL ACC STANDINGS: Clemson Tigers, 15-5 (26-5, #5 in the polls, NET 7) Duke Blue Devils, 15-5 (23-7, #7 in the polls, NET 11) Boston College Eagles, 13-7 (21-8, NET 14) Syracuse Orange, 12-8 (19-10, #25 in the polls, NET 26) Virginia Cavaliers, 12-8 (23-8, #14 in the polls, NET 19) Miami (FL) Hurricanes, 11-9 (18-13, NET 54) Louisville Cardinals, 10-10 (16-13, NET 51) Florida State Seminoles, 10-10 (15-15, NET 57) North Carolina Tar Heels, 10-10 (16-15, NET 91) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 9-11 (16-13, NET 74) Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 8-12 (15-14, NET 125) Pittsburgh Panthers, 7-13 (15-14, NET 94) Virginia Tech Hokies, 7-13 (14-15, NET 119) North Carolina State Wolfpack, 6-14 (15-14, NET 93) Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 5-15 (11-19, NET 232) MEDIA POLL TOP 25: 1. Wichita State, 31-1 2. Alabama, 27-4 3. Kansas, 25-5 4. Memphis, 26-6 5. Clemson, 26-5 6. Xavier, 24-7 7. Duke, 23-7 8. Michigan, 24-5 9. Nevada, 27-4 10. Florida, 24-8 11. Arizona, 23-7 12. Kentucky, 24-7 13. Providence, 23-8 14. Virginia, 23-8 15. Illinois, 23-7 16. Brigham Young, 24-7 17. Tennessee, 22-8 18. Iowa State, 23-6 19. Oregon, 21-10 20. Ohio State, 21-9 21. Virginia Commonwealth, 24-7 22. Belmont, 26-5 23. Villanova, 21-8 24. Gonzaga, 22-8 25. Syracuse, 19-10

Mar. 1, 2027: #22-ranked Syracuse Orange (19-9, 12-7) vs Boston College Eagles (20-8, 12-7) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Karen Vogel, fan My husband Trevor and I attend most home games together with our good friends, Mollie and Hank Pratt. Hank played college ball at a small midwestern school and Trevor played basketball in high school. So the guys got Mollie and I hooked on the game. Actually I think we’re more dedicated BC fans that either Trevor or Hank. BC is going up against another team with a player who has a chance of winning the Norton Award. SG Adrian Hooks of Syracuse is averaging 26.4 ppg and 6.3 rpg. He got his knee banged up but will be starting for the Orange. Whichever team wins will finish 3rd in the ACC. Led by Josh McFadgon’s two three-pointers, the Eagles scored the first 11 points in the game and the crowd was going wild forcing Syracuse to call a time out early. Courtland Reese picked up his 2nd foul with 14-1/2 minutes left in the half. Syracuse worked their way back into the game. After the lead shrunk to just 2 points, BC combined good offense and defense to pull away again. When the half ended, the Eagles were on top 43-25. All 10 players Coach Aura had put into the game had scored. Hank was ecstatic about BC’s defense, talking to all those around us about how they’d held Syracuse’s shooting to 32% and forced the Orange to make 12 turnovers plus kept Syracuse’s star, Adrian Hook, from hitting any shots from the field and scoring just 5 points, all on free throws. I felt like we fans should get some credit because of our cheering. The Eagles started the 2nd half strongly and led 59-34 with 12 minutes left in the game. Syracuse was unable to mount a challenge and Boston College ran roughshod over them to score a lopsided 85-49 win. PG Josh McFadgon and reserve SG Jon Ray both scored 14 points, SG James Lilly had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and C Courtland Reese scored 11 points. The Eagles held Adrian Hook to just 12 points, less that half his average.

Feb. 27, 2027: Boston College Eagles (20-7, 12-6) vs #15-ranked Virginia Cavaliers (21-8, 10-8) at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA 1st Assistant Coach David Woodruff SF Sam Dickens strained an abdominal which likely will take 10-12 days to completely heal. He can play but the injury is likely to limit his performance. C Courtland Reese’s sprained wrist definitely affected his effectiveness in our last game. The wrist is still bothering him some, so with both of those players not 100%, it’s going to hurt our chances. It’s a long season and it seems to be taking a toll on our players as we wind down. Our biggest challenge, though, will be to try to slow down the Cavaliers’ dynamic offense. It’s led by C Dustin Bryant who is averaging 23.5 ppg and 13.1 rpg. He’s going to score no matter what we do. But I think our guards are better than theirs, so we’ll try to wear them down and force some turnovers. Virginia came out firing and pulled away to a 24-13 lead midway through the first half. The Cavaliers drove on to 48-31 halftime advantage. Virginia hit 59% of their shots and generally outplayed us. C Dustin Bryant poured in 16 points and grabbed 12 boards. Our leading scorer was SG James Lilly with 14 points, but our interior game was nearly totally shut down. More of the same in the 2nd half. We continued to slip further behind and dropped this one 87-64. We just went up against a better team tonight. Leading our scoring was SG James Lilly with 21 points and PG Josh McFadgon chipped in 14 points. Virginia’s C Dustin Bryant dominated us, scoring 24 points, pulling down 21 rebounds, and blocking 7 shots. Syracuse lost to Duke thus setting up our upcoming last game of the regular season with Syracuse as a fight for sole possession of 3rd place in the ACC.

Feb. 24, 2027: North Carolina Tar Heels (16-13, 10-8) vs Boston College Eagles (19-7, 11-6) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA WRKO Radio reports: Report Prior to the game: Boston College hosts the North Carolina Tar Heels later tonight. For the Eagles, reserve C Steve Ross came down with the flu a couple days ago. He’s able to play for BC tonight but his endurance will be reduced. C Courtland Reese took a fall in practice and sprained his wrist. He also has been cleared to play but we’ll have to see how the wrist affects his play. SG Duke Stokes leads North Carolina’s offense and is averaging 20.2 ppg. The Tar Heels have won 3 of their last 4 games. Post-Game Report: Boston College had an early lead but then let North Carolina dictate the tempo and fell behind by as much as 13 in the first half. The Eagles rallied late in the half to get within 2 points then fell behind by a 40-34 score at the break. North Carolina held the Eagles off early in the 2nd half. But BC then went on a 13-0 run that put them in the lead by a 56-48 score with 13-1/2 minutes to play. The Eagles held onto a solid lead the rest of the game and won 80-71. The victory was the 9th straight for Boston College and will keep them in a tie with Syracuse for 3rd place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Four players for Boston College scored in double figures: PG Josh McFadgon-19, PF Marvin Reese-18, SG James Lilly-14, and SF Sam Dickens-12. WRKO’s Post-Game Interview: Interviewer: Nice going, Coach. Another win. Coach Fred Aura: Thanks. It’s always good to get a win. But outside of that big run in the 2nd half, we were flat and just didn’t seem to have a hunger. We really need to step it up when we travel to take on Virginia in our next game. Interviewer: What’s changed for Josh McFadgon? He’s been on fire recently. Coach Fred Aura: He’s really been playing great. Josh has been an integral part of our recent success. I think he’s just starting to come into his own. We knew he was going to be good, but it took a while for him to adjust from playing JC ball to Division I. Once he did that, you could just see a difference in his confidence and aggressiveness. At the beginning of the season he was the new guy on the team, but now has established himself as a leader and the person the other guys can count on. That new confidence level is apparent with how his shots are falling. Interviewer: Courtland Reese had an unusually quiet game. Coach Fred Aura: Courtland has been a rock for us all season. But yeah, this was a down game for him offensively but it’s understandable since he sprained his wrist and that injury is affecting him. He still played a strong game defensively though. Interviewer: Two games left in ACC play. Is your team going to be able to run your win streak to the very end? Coach Fred Aura: We’re certainly going to try. But two big tests since both Virginia and Syracuse are ranked teams in the polls. Going up against the Cavaliers on their court will be a huge challenge, particularly since they seem to have instant offense and have one of the best players in the nation in Dustin Bryant. But we’ve pulled off some other surprises, so who knows.

Feb. 22, 2027: Boston College Eagles (18-7, 10-6) vs #4-ranked Duke Blue Devils (21-5, 13-3) at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC SF Sam Dickens I’m laying on my bed watching the guys take on Duke. Coach Fed suspended me so I’m missing this game. Yeah, not smart on my part and I’m pissed not to have a chance to go up against Duke. I’m taking some real hits on social media. But to hell with that bunch of strangers. Duke beat us on our own court 67-56 earlier this season. I had a pretty good game, 9 points and 8 boards, but the Blue Devils pretty much throttled our offense. I know you’re all thinking I’m letting the team down, and yeah, I probably am. Samuel King, though, should not have butted into my efforts to hit on Tawnyah Daniels. But the guys never have really accepted me anyway. And now I know they’re pissed at me because I’m missing this game, but their giving me the cold shoulder ain’t helping. I’m trying not to think too deeply about it, but if I can’t fit in here, maybe I need to consider taking my game elsewhere. Some of my friends say I should declare for the pro draft, but I know I need to develop my game more before doing that. Anyways, enough about that, the game is about to begin. We start out good. Great D that is keeping Duke from getting comfortable. They are having a tough time scoring and we hold onto a small lead through most of the first 10 minutes. Refs just put Josh (McFadgon) on the bench with 2 fouls just 6 minutes into the game. Courtland (Reese) is doing his usual great job inside, but the refs are tagging him for fouls and he picks up his 3rd with about 9 minutes to go in the half. Duke is forcing some turnovers and moves ahead by a few points but we don’t let them pull away and are within one at the end of the half at 29-28. Typical Duke game though…big time D. We hit just 38% of our shots but held Duke’s shooting to 29% (and 1 for 11 from 3 point range). But Duke hit 14 of 18 free throws which put them ahead. Our guys need to stop Duke’s C Maurice McCoy who scored 14 points in the first half…tougher to do with Courtland probably riding the bench. Damn! Marvin (Reese) picks up his 3rd foul with 19:37 to play. Refs really are working us over. We keepin’ up with ‘em but unable to get ahead. Now with 9:54 to go we get a steal and breakaway jam to go ahead 48-46. Some real good defense is keeping them from scoring and we’re up by 4 with 7 minutes remaining. Oh man, 3 fouls against us in the next minute gives them 7 points. We’re making FG’s, they’re making FT’s. With 3:13 left we’re ahead 60-55. We press and they fumble it out of bounds with 2:30 to go and us ahead 60-56. After a time out, we run a pick and roll…James (Lilly) sinks a 15 footer and is fouled and he converts the 3 point play to put us ahead by 7 with 1:46 on the clock. Duke quickly gets a basket. But now they are forced to foul. Josh (McFadgon) and James (Lilly) makes them pay, hitting 8 of 8 from the line. We rip Duke on their court, 71-58. I sure wish I had been there. Huge win. That’s 8 straight wins for us. We hit 48% of our FG’s, Duke only made 30% of theirs. On 3-pointers, 33% for us, 13% for the Blue Devils. They outshot us at the line 85% to 74%. We out-rebounded Duke 31-26 and made just 13 turnovers while they made 14. We held a 30-10 advantage on points-in-the-paint. Top scorers for us: Courtland Reese and James Lilly with 15 apiece and Josh McFadgon added 10. Mo McCoy finished with 20 points for Duke.

3rd Assistant Coach Rob Rowland (scouting) Four games left in the regular season. We’re tied for 3rd place in the ACC with 10-6 record. Duke is the ACC leader with a 13-3 record. The Blue Devils are ranked 4th in the polls. They play great defense. In 2nd place is 11-5 Clemson. The Tigers are 8th in the polls and combine an explosive offense with a very solid defense. Tied with us for 3rd is #14 ranked Virginia with an 11-5 record. The Cavaliers are an offensive juggernaut. #22 ranked Syracuse is a half-game behind us in the standings with a 9-6 record. The Orange are strong offensively and on the boards. We travel to Durham, NC to take on Duke in our next game. Duke has yet to lose at home this season. We’d like to break that streak, but need to figure out a way to break the Blue Devils’ defense. Their man-to-man D is so solid and they mix in a 3-2 zone to keep teams off-balance. They also press a lot with a 2-2-1 half-court press. They get a lot of steals. Their talented players come up with frequent blocked shots also. Their opponents have averaged just 63.3 ppg which is the 6th lowest in the nation. That defense has resulted in their winning 16 of 21 games thus far even though their offense has just been middle of the road (73.2 ppg). Their interior game is pretty strong though with PF Robert Tarkanian averaging 15.5 ppg and C Maurice McCoy averaging 10.4 ppg. They, together with SF Ed Robertson, are all 5-star players. SG Kirk Lloyd has scored 10.7 ppg and has hit a high percentage of his shots. We’ll be going into the game against Duke two players short. SF Sam Dickens and PG Samuel King got into it verbally and were counselled by Coach Aura. But the next day they began pushing each other around while arguing about a girl. Coach Aura again had them in his office. Neither took kindly to his words and he suspended both of them. Freshman Sam Dickens is an OK guy personally but for some reason he hasn’t fit in well with the team. He’s an extremely talented player but all us coaches are concerned he may transfer after this season. Samuel King is a senior.

Feb. 17, 2027: Florida State Seminoles (12-13, 7-8) vs Boston College Eagles (17-7, 9-6) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Maury Rentzwick I gamble on college basketball games. OK, I gamble on lots of things, but college ball has a hold on me. Being from Boston, I’ve known enough of Boston College’s past incompetence not to bet on them winning games or beating the spread. I have to admit to betting against them a number of times and being damned happy I did. That income has offset losses on some other bad picks. But the Eagles have been flying high lately. They’re listed as 6-1/2 point favorites in this home game and I think they’ll beat that spread, so I’ve got some heavy money down on them. Heavy enough that I’ve come to tonight’s game. Florida State’s offense has been the equal of BC’s (and the Seminoles are a better shooting team), but their defense has been much worse than the Eagles. More importantly BC is a much better rebounding team so that together with a better defense spells good things for the Eagles tonight and an extension of their win streak to 7 games. They better perform up to my expectations and win big. I need to win this bet. BC’s defense was on spot from the get-go. The Seminoles had a helluva tough time getting free for shots. The Eagles broke out on top and steadily increased their lead. By the end of the half, they were up 42-24. The Eagles relaxed their defense a little in the 2nd half, but picked up the tempo and were scoring at will (they hit 63% of their shots the entire game and the starters hit over 70%). With BC continuing to stretch their lead, Florida State’s players grew frustrated and were tagged for a bunch of fouls. The Eagles dropped in 32 of 37 free throws during the game. And recall, I said the Eagles were a better rebounding team, right? Well they out-rebounded Florida State 34-17. Coach Aura played his entire bench and Boston College still stomped the Seminoles 100-66. Total freakin’ domination. That’ll put a lot of dough in my pocket. I was really impressed by the Eagles’ new guys…C Courtland Reese and PG Josh McFadgon. Reese hit 9 of 11 shots and scored 22 points and he only played 22 minutes. McFadgon ran the offense nearly flawlessly and scored 17 points, hitting 4 of 5 from the field including draining his only 3 point attempt and 8 of 8 free throws. I’ve seen SG James Lilly before and he is as good as ever. He scored just 10 points but hit 3 or 4 FG’s, 1 of 2 from 3 point range, and 3 of 3 at the line…plus he was the Eagles’ top rebounder with 10 boards… and did all that in just 18 minutes on the court. Others scoring in double figures were PF Marvin Reese and reserve SG Jason Dunn, both of whom scored 10 points.

Feb. 15, 2027: #13-ranked Virginia Cavaliers (20-5, 9-5) vs Boston College Eagles (16-7, 8-6) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Jason Braxton, Athletic Director Comments prior to the game: Conte Forum is packed tonight. Our recent success plus a great team like Virginia visiting here have filled the place. I’m hoping the fans rock the place and help the Eagles overcome a very talented Cavaliers team. Just when the Eagles were reeling from 3 straight losses, they turned things around and now have won 5 in a row. The team has really gelled. Remarks on the game: Both teams started rather slowly. There were a few lead changes but we began to move out to a small but solid lead five minutes into the game. The crowd’s enthusiasm was certainly a factor in inspiring our players to perform well. Our defense was rock solid. So even though our offense was inconsistent, we still came away with an impressive 32-23 lead at the break. The second half was completely different. Defense be damned on both ends of the court! The early stages of the half were dominated by the Eagles. We increased our lead to 22 points. But then Virginia began to pour in basket after basket. The gap between the two teams steadily narrowed. With two minutes to go we led by just a single point. Coach Aura called a time out. The team executed the play he designed to perfection, taking the 30-second clock down to the final second and isolating Sam Dickens for a clear 12 footer that he drilled. Trailing by 3, Virginia brought it up court quickly and rushed a shot that went awry. After grabbing the defensive rebound Courtland Reese was immediately fouled. He went to the line and knocked down both free throws. We forced Virginia to work the ball around the perimeter, but they put in a shot from far out that went in. But the refs saw that a toe was on the 3-point arc line and so it was good for only 2 rather than 3 points. The Cavaliers were again forced to foul. Josh McFadgon made the first but missed the second making it Boston College-77, Virginia-73 which turned out to be the final score. Our crowd was delirious. While we made 22 turnovers to the Cavaliers 15, we completely dominated the boards 37-21 which ultimately was the difference in the ballgame as we outpaced Virginia in 2nd chance points 15-2. Reserve SG Jason Dunn and C Courtland Reese both scored 18 points, PG Josh McFadgon had 14, and SF Sam Dickens finished with 10. C Dustin Bryant scored 17 for Virginia, but that was over 8 points less than his average this season. Post-Game Conversation of Jason Braxton, Athletic Director: Our win moved us into a tie with Virginia and Syracuse for 3rd place in the ACC, a game behind Clemson and 3 games behind Duke. We have 5 games left in the regular season…3 at home and 2 on the road (against Duke and Virginia, so those will take a super effort to win). Coach Aura has done a tremendous job for us in the less the 2 years he’s been at BC. Taking a so-so team he had been handed last season to over 20 wins and 2nd place in the CIT Tourney. A 17-7 season record, 9-6 ACC record (which puts us in a tie for 3rd place), and the 23rd best NET rating in the country…thus positioning us thus far for a good chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament. And while he’s done a first-rate recruiting job last season and this season, our prestige level and recent history (neither of which are strong) have prevented him from landing a top 10 or top 25 recruit like 10 of the 14 other schools in the ACC have. So our team is strong as a team because Fred has molded them into one, not because we have a high-flying player to lead us to success. Take a look at the type of players most of our competitors in the ACC are relying upon: Clemson: Freshman C Williams Yeaton, #6 ranked recruit, 23.6 ppg, 9.9 rpg Duke: Freshman PF Robert Tarkanian, #14 ranked recruit, 15.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg Senior C Maurice McCoy, #16 ranked recruit, 10.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg Louisville: Freshman SF Carl Williams, #12 ranked recruit, 1.7 ppg Sophomore PF Travis Church, #20 ranked recruit, 11.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg Miami (FL): Junior PF Dewayne Jennings, #5 ranked recruit, 25.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg North Carolina: Freshman SF Brian Howard, #16 ranked recruit, 9.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg Junior SG Duke Stokes, #14 ranked recruit, 19.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg Notre Dame: Freshman SG Freddie Curtis, #20 ranked recruit, 18.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg Freshman SG Mario Krimmel, #5 ranked recruit, 3.7 ppg Sophomore SF Rich Thompson, #23 ranked recruit, 12.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg Pittsburgh: Senior SG Rudy Kerlin, #13 ranked recruit, 16.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg Syracuse: Freshman C Mike Miller, #9 ranked recruit, 11.3 ppg. 7.4 rpg Senior Adrian Hooks, #11 ranked recruit, 25.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg Virginia: Senior C Dustin Bryant, #15 ranked recruit, 23.9 ppg, 13.0 rpg Junior SF Jamaal Lawson, #18 ranked recruit, 18.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg Wake Forest: Sophomore SG Tom Matthews, #24 ranked recruit, 13.1 ppg Presently Yeaton, Bryant, and Jennings are the top 3 in the running for the Norton Award and Hooks is 6th. And to Louisville and Notre Dame: if you’re not going to use Williams and Krimmel, send them on over to us (although I hear that Williams may not be the most likeable of people).

Feb. 13, 2027: Boston College Eagles (15-7, 7-6) vs Louisville Cardinals (13-9, 7-6) at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY Boston Herald EAGLES FLY HIGH IN LOUISVILLE Boston College won their second straight road game against a tough ACC opponent last night when they decimated the Louisville Cardinals 79-57. The Eagles totally shut down the Cardinals in the first half, holding them to just 17 points while BC scored 35. BC’s defense was nearly impenetrable, making nearly every possession extremely difficult for the Cardinals. By allowing Louisville no easy shots, the Cardinals hit just 21% of their shots. The tempo picked up in the second half but Boston College continually stymied every effort by Louisville to cut into their lead. The Eagles cruised to an easy win, led by SG James Lilly’s 21 points and 11 rebounds. PG Josh McFadgon hit for 16 points while dishing out 8 assists. C Courtland Reese had 12 points and 8 rebounds. PF Jason Caldwell came off the bench to work the boards for 14 rebounds. “It was great to see James (Lilly) come up so big offensively, defensively and on the boards. It just shows what a tremendous player he is, said Coach Frederick Aura. Aura added, “In addition this is the fourth straight high-scoring game for Josh McFadgon and he was finding the open player so well I this game also.” Boston College has now run off five consecutive wins and will host the #13-ranked Virginia Cavaliers tomorrow night at Conte Forum. The Eagles now have an 8-6 conference record and moved into sole possession of 6th place in the ACC standings. Aura stated, “Virginia will be a huge test for us. The Cavaliers are the best scoring team in Division I this year averaging about 91 points per game while hitting 52% of their field goal attempts and 41% of their threes. We need to figure out a way to slow down their offense. Dustin Bryant is a beast inside, averaging 24.2 ppg and 13.1 rpg.”

Feb. 8, 2027: Boston College Eagles (14-7, 6-6) vs Pittsburgh Panthers (15-6, 7-5) at Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA Ty Richerson, Head Coach of Pittsburgh This is our 4th straight home game, but we only won 1 of the 3 previous home games. I’ve been riding the guys about that. There’s no excuse to lose home games. Boston College has a strong interior game. Our big guys haven’t done that well this season, but we need to try to throttle the Eagles’ C Courtland Reese. Offensively, we’re strongest on the perimeter with our two starting guards combining to average 28 ppg. Boston College came out and totally disrupted our offense in the first half. We shot poorly and had a bunch of turnovers. The Eagles’ SG James Lilly completely shut down our star SG Rudy Kerlin. None of my adjustments cured our problems and we left the court at the half trailing badly, 39-24. Our offense got into gear in the 2nd half, but BC’s starting 5 continued to score and we just never could really make a dent in their lead. I was really disappointed in how my team performed. We got clobbered 79-62. Our 19 turnovers has me really fuming. Rudy Kerlin scored just 9 points for us which is half of what he usually scores. PG Marcus Williams was our only player to score in double figures and he had just 11 points. For Boston College, C Courtland Reese had 18 points and 10 boards, SF Sam Dickens scored 14, SG James Lilly had 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and a block, and PG Josh McFadgon hit for 11 points plus dished out 6 assists. Our loss dropped us into a tie with Boston College and 2 others (Georgia Tech and Louisville) for 5th place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. We’re all trailing the 4 ACC teams ranked in the polls: Duke, Clemson, Syracuse, and Virginia.

Feb. 6, 2027: Miami Hurricanes (13-10, 6-6) vs Boston College Eagles (13-7, 5-6) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Janeka Aura This is the first game I’ve been able to attend in a long time. It looked like my mother was responding well to chemo, but then she had a set back and so I’ve been spending a lot more time at my parents’ house. That plus work and the kids have kept me away from Conte Forum until tonight. Frederick is going through his typical mid-season hyper-focus on his team. So his home time has been limited. He tries to get to as many of our boys’ high school games as he can. Both Omari and Malik are doing great. Omari, who is now a senior, is the team captain and top rebounder and defender at PF. Malik, who is a sophomore, is starting at SG and is the team’s leading scorer. Omari has been hounded by a lot of colleges. He said he was not going to any ACC school. We thought he was going to pick Temple, but he decided to wait until this spring to make a final decision. He’s got a friend from Towson who wants Omari to join him at the University of Maryland. The head coach there who is a good friend of Frederick is making some strong pitches as is the head coach at Bradley. We’ll just have to wait to see who he goes with. Malik wants him to choose Providence so we can go to his home games. Devany is now a 4th grader and a soccer natural, but I’m hoping the focuses more on her ballet and piano. Fred says his team needs to keep Miami’s Dewayne Jennings who is averaging 25.5 ppg from breaking loose. He dropped in 26 points to lead the Hurricanes to a win over BC when our team travelled to Miami a couple weeks ago. I was really happy when BC came away with an 81-66 victory. Fred is always in a better mood after a win. The lead went back-and-forth throughout the first half and ended with BC holding a slim 35-33 edge. Both teams’ defenses kept the other from breaking away. The first 10 minutes of the 2nd half were pretty much a replay of the 1st half, although the Eagles maintained a small lead throughout. While BC’s defense held firm, they were able to steadily pull away from Miami in the final 10 minutes. The big accomplishment by the Eagles was holding Dewayne Jennings to just 7 points. They just never let him get free. It was the first time this entire season that Jennings failed to score in double figures (in fact he had scored 20+ points in 19 of their previous 23 games). PG Josh McFadgon led the Eagles’ scoring with 15 points. C Courtland Reese had 13 points and 9 rebounds. PF Marvin Reese scored 12 points and had 7 rebounds. The win moved Fred’s team into a tie for 7th place in the ACC standings.

Feb. 1, 2027: Boston College Eagles (12-7, 4-6) vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (12-7, 5-5) at Hank McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, GA 2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting) We’ve got confirmation that the SAT scores for all 3 of our recruits this season exceeded our minimum qualifications. Hoorah! So my primary responsibility is complete. I feel good that the 3 we recruited are strong players and will help our team improve in the future. Georgia Tech is a high scoring team but also gives up a lot of points. When we played Georgia Tech on our court we beat them 77-62 in a game in which our defense was stellar. Obviously this road game will be a totally different challenge for us. In their last 6 games, the Yellow Jackets have had a different top scorer each game. But their two centers both are averaging in double figures, so we need some strong interior defense. Here’s how the game went: Led by PG Josh McFadgon and C Courtland Reese, we got off to great start offensively to jump out to an early lead. But Georgia Tech shot well also to keep us from opening a large lead. Even though shooting percentages slipped during the midpoint of the half, the offenses of both teams overrode the defenses. The half ended with us on top 53-45. We outshot the Yellow Jackets 61% to 52%. C Courtland Reese scored 17 points and PG Josh McFadgon hit for 14. For Georgia Tech, SF Dan Branch had 16 points and reserve C Ryan Gooden scored 14. We need to put together another strong 20 minutes, with Coach Aura stressing the need to play some strong D in the 2nd half. We did a better job defensively and held onto an 8-10 point lead for most of the 2nd half. But the Yellow Jackets got it going and closed to within 1 point with 4-1/2 minutes to go. Lilly hit a couple quick baskets with about 3 minutes to go to get us back up by 5. Georgia Tech hit a free throw and then knocked down a 3 pointer to again get within 1 with a minute left. SF Sam Dickens made one of 2 free throws with 34 seconds remaining to make it 85-83. The Yellow Jackets missed a 3 and then had to foul. Josh McFadgon dropped in both foul shots putting us ahead by 4 with 15 seconds on the clock. Georgia Tech brought it up court quickly and sank a 3 to cut our lead to 1. They fouled on the inbounds play. This time McFadgon only made one free throw. With just 4 seconds to go we pressed and it worked. Georgia Tech was unable to get it out of the back court or even get off a desperation full court toss at the basket. We escaped with a thrilling 88-86 road win. We won by outshooting the Yellow Jackets 56% to 47%, outrebounding them 29-22, and outscoring them 42-38 in points in the paint. The victory moved us into a tie for 9th place in the ACC. C Courtland Reese poured in 22 points, PG Josh McFadgon scored 15, SG James Lilly added 13, and PF Jason Caldwell came off the bench to drop in 12 points. The Yellow Jackets were led by C Ryan Gooden and SF Dan Branch who both scored 24 points.

Jan. 27, 2027: Wake Forest Demon Deacons (9-10, 3-6) vs Boston College Eagles (11-7, 3-6) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Kevin Sizemore, BC Student I’m a junior at Boston College majoring in history with the aim to eventually become a college professor. I’ve got to almost all the home games in my time here. I enjoy the games although they’d be even better if BC was a top-flight team. Following a good start this season, the Eagles have struggled in ACC play and now are sitting on a 4-game loss streak. So this home game against a so-so team is a must win to get out of the bottom half of the conference standings. I like our chances. The 3 new guys (C Courtland Reese, SF Sam Dickens, and PG Josh McFadgon) have combined to average 35 ppg, 15 rpg, and 7 apg. Most of Wake Forest’s scoring comes from their guards. SG Brian Worrell is averaging 15.1 ppg and hitting 53% of his FGA’s and 46% of his 3PA’s. PG Tom Matthews averages 12.9 ppg. If BC can control Worrell, we should win, particularly since I think we’re a helluva lot stronger inside than are the Demon Deacons. I went to get some snacks to munch on throughout the game and nearly missed the beginning. I had just sat down when PF Marvin Reese slammed down a dunk off the tip off. And then SG James Lilly anticipated a pass by Wake Forest, picked it off and shot it up court to a streaking PG Josh McFadgon for an uncontested layin to make it 4-0 with just 30 seconds played. We knocked down the first 5 shots we took to make it 10-4 with 18 minutes to go in the half. 4 minutes into the game we were up by 10 at 15-5. But then the refs called a second foul on C Courtland Reese a minute-and-a-half later. Our shooting went cold for a spell which allowed the Demon Deacons to cut into our lead a bit. But in the latter part of the half, we put together good offense and defense to draw away to a 34-15 lead with 3-1/2 minutes to go. The Eagles played sloppily the rest of the half and finished the first stanza with a 36-23 lead. BC had a tough time scoring in the early stages of the 2nd half. Wake Forest got within 8 points. But midway through the half, the Eagles’ offense woke up and with 7 minutes to play, we led 62-39. BC then put it on cruise control and came away with an easy 74-56 whipping of Wake Forest. While the Eagles were better in all aspects of the game, they played very strong defensively. Leading the Eagles (after having just 2 points in the first half due to being benched with foul trouble) was C Courtland Reese with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Reserves Jason Caldwell and Steve Ross each scored 10 points. BC held a 38-2 advantage in points in the paint.

JJ Conroy, BeanTownSports Blog Losing at home to Duke has become a tradition for Boston College, so last night’s loss wasn’t a surprise. But the Eagles have now lost 4 straight that has dropped them to 3-6 in the ACC and close to the bottom of the heap in the standings. And they not only lost at home to Duke but also lost at home to a team (North Carolina State) that they had beaten the Wolfpacks’ home court by 22 points. What’s up with that? When Coach Frederick Aura was hired, he was hyped as BC’s deliverance who would lead the team to the upper regions of the ACC standings. In his first season the team lost more games than they won in ACC play and this season they seem to be on a pace that will drop them further down in the standings. And that’s after recruiting 3 solid players (freshmen Sam Dickens and Courtland Reese and JC transfer Josh McFadgon. Those 3 have played well, especially Reese and Dickens, but the rest of the team has been a real disappointment. SG James Lilly seems to be afraid to take shots and his scoring has dropped precipitously. PF Marvin Reese has been inconsistent, although a 2 month injury may have contributed to that. PG Willis Lofton, who started last season and was generally productive, has been nearly invisible when he’s come off the bench this season. SF’s Michael Millford and Earl Betts haven’t been able to provide much help coming off the bench as have guards Jason Dunn, Samuel King and Jon Ray. The only two reserves that have played well coming in off the bench have been Jason Caldwell and Steve Ross at PF and C. The Eagles have 5 more road games. I don’t expect them to win any of those. They have 6 home games remaining, but they’re only 2-2 at home in the ACC thus far, so home court advantage doesn’t seem to prevail for them. All-in-all…a dismal outlook toward improving this season.

Jan. 23, 2027: #12-ranked Duke Blue Devils (13-4, 5-2) vs Boston College Eagles (11-6, 3-5) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Baldwin the Eagle Duke has come to visit. That normally means a loss for the Eagles. But we’re counteracting that history by bringing out the “Red Devils” who are intent on obliterating the Blue Devils. Red Devil signs, posters, costumes, face masks, etc, etc that reveal how our red devils will rampage over the blue devils. I can’t say the BC administration and Catholic fathers have been all that supportive of our red devil days on campus. But we’re intent on stimulating our team any way we can to upset favored Duke. During halftime a costumed red devil and I will beat the hell out of a stuffed blue devil on mid court. The two teams played pretty evenly all the way through the first half. Duke hit a couple late shots that gave them a 33-23 halftime advantage. The Eagles need to shoot better in the 2nd half (they only hit 37% of their FG’s in the first half) and also figure out how to contain the interior duo of Tarkanian and McCoy who accounted for 15 of Dukes 33 points. Our halftime “beat the stuffins outta the Blue Devils” didn’t help. Duke gradually extended their lead. By halftime they had a double digit lead that they held onto since our shooting didn’t improve in the 2nd half. We ended up losing 67-56. The refs did our team no favors by sending the Blue Devils to the line 15 more times that us allowing the Dukies to score 13 more points on free throws, more than the difference in the final score. C Courtland Reese had 14 points and 9 rebounds, SG James Lilly hit for 11 points, and SF Sam Dickens scored 9 plus pulled down 8 boards. PF Robert Tarkanian poured in 18 points to lead Duke.

Jan. 20, 2027: Boston College Eagles (11-5, 3-4) vs Miami (FL) Hurricanes (9-9, 2-5) at Watsco Center in Miami, FL Jason Braxton, Athletic Director I’m attending ACC meetings here in Miami so have come over to Watsco Center to watch our team take on Miami. I’m sure hoping we can pull of a road win so I can do some crowing to other AD’s during our meetings. For the second straight game we’re having to deal with a court phenom. Junior SF Dewayne Jennings is averaging 26.4 ppg for Miami. Jennings was the Norton Award winner as a freshman and is having an even better year this season. We looked good early with a strong inside game, taking a 10-3 lead after just 2-1/2 minutes with C Courtland Reese scoring 8 of those points and PF Marvin Reese the other 2. But Marvin Reese picked up his 2nd foul 30 seconds later. Miami began picking away at our lead and with 6 minutes remaining in the half, the Hurricanes overtook us at 27-25. The half ended with on the short end of a 42-38 score. Courtland Reese had 12 points for us while SF Dewayne Jennings topped Miami’s scoring with 11 points. We hung in with the Hurricanes throughout most of the 2nd half, but they held a small lead most of the way. We then simply caved in the final 5 minutes and Miami took advantage to smash us 82-65. For the 2nd straight game we were burned by a superstar. SF Dewayne Jennings poured in 26 points and grabbed 10 boards for the Hurricanes. Our leading scorer was C Courtland Reese with 20 points. None of our other players scored in double figures. The loss dropped us into a tie for 11th place in the ACC.

Jan. 16, 2027: Boston College Eagles (11-4, 3-3) vs #6-ranked Clemson Tigers (14-3, 3-3) at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, SC 1st Assistant Coach David Woodruff Losing at home to North Carolina State last week was a real downer. Both games this week are on the road starting with tonight’s game against the 6th ranked Clemson. The Tigers ACC record is just 3-3, but all 3 losses were close games. They’re led by freshman C Williams Yeaton. Yeaton is living up to the hype (he was the 6th ranked recruit nationally last year). He’s averaging 25.9 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 4.3 apg, 2.7 bpg, and 3.9 spg. He’s scored 20+ points in 12 ga mes and over 30 points in 6 of those 12 games. Fellow freshman SG Lou Robinson is averaging 15.1 ppg. Clemson is averaging 87.1 ppg. The Tigers are going to score…so we need our offense to catch fire and not fizzle out. One thing about the ACC is that there are several teams that have a great player, like Clemson does with Williams Yeaton, who can carry a team. You’re not going to stop them, you just have to try to limit the amount of damage they inflict upon you. Williams is an intimidator offensively, defensively and on the boards. We will try to deny the ball to him, but in doing so I have the feeling we’re going to pick up a lot of fouls. Since we need Courtland Reese on the court (and not riding the bench due to foul trouble), we’ll have to use our PF’s to do a lot of the guarding of Yeaton in a way we can spread the expected fouls to several of our interior guys. And so the game began: After 4 minutes we trailed 14-4 and PF Marvin Reese had picked up 2 fouls. Clemson kept pouring in points while we made too many turnovers. At the midpoint of the half we were down by a 27-14 score and Yeaton already had scored 11 points. The Tigers outshot us 62% to 32% and also forced us to turn the ball over 14 times in the half. We were far behind at 51-30 at the end of the half. Yeaton scored 18 points in the half. Clemson continued to rip the net in the 2nd half and blow by us. Midway through the half we were behind 76-47. We were unable to sustain a challenge and got whomped by the Tigers 84-57. We were simply outclassed by the talented Tigers. PG Josh McFadgon scored 13, SF Sam Dickens had 11 points, and C Courtland Reese scored 9 while pulling down 10 rebounds. Clemson’s C Williams Yeaton finished with 22 points and 6 rebounds.

Jan. 13, 2027: North Carolina State Wolfpack (10-5, 1-5) vs Boston College Eagles (11-3, 3-2) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Marvin Reese, PF Man, it’s good to be back in the lineup and playing basketball again. The past 2 months while I was nursing my broken ankle were pure hell. I’ve never been off the basketball court so long during a basketball season. When I was finally allowed to play in our previous game this week, I was bound and determined to do well…and I did! In fact, I think I surprised everyone. Many felt I’d be rusty and out of shape and it would take a few games before I could resume my form. But I showed everyone. We ripped NC State 69-47 on their court a few weeks ago. Coach Fed keeps telling us to forget that and not take the Wolfpack lightly. Ivan Sims, the NC State PF who will be going up against me has been averaging 10.1 ppg and 5.5 rpg. My job will be go keep him well under those numbers. Sims is a good defensive player so I’m going to have to work hard on offense as well. The Wolfpacks’ starting guards have combined to average over 26 ppg. My cuz (Courtland Reese) and I scored the first points of the game to give us a 4-0 lead in the first 34 seconds. By the time the first medial timeout came around we were on top 15-7 as our offense was jammin’. Coach Fed subbed in Jason Caldwell for me at that point. The Wolfpack came back to get within 3 points. Then with 7 minutes left we fell behind 34-27 as we stalled offensively. By the end of the half we trailed 48-36 and Coach Fed gave us hell in the locker room. In the 2nd half NC State seemed to score on us on just about every possession and we fell behind 69-50 with 12 minutes to play. We tried to come back and got within 6 points with 2 minutes to go but just couldn’t get past the Wolfpack and lost 89-80. We let NC State hit 51% of their FG’s and 52% of their 3’s. Topping our scoring was C Courtland Reese with 27 points and he also had 10 rebounds. SF Sam Dickens had 14 points and 7 boards. PG Josh McFadgon scored 11 points. I had 9 points. The Wolfpacks’ reserve PG Marcus Shepard killed us by scoring 22 points. Since we played so poorly defensively, Coach Fed is gonna work our butts off in practice.

Jan. 11, 2027: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-3, 3-1) vs Boston College Eagles (10-3, 2-2) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA JJ Conroy, BeanTownSports Blog Jan. 10 Blog: This week Boston College has two home games. Anything less that 2 wins will signify that the Eagles are likely to yet again disappoint those who have put faith in them. Thus far BC is 2-2 in ACC which puts them in a large muddle of middle roader ACC teams. Their loss to Syracuse was not unexpected since they were playing a solid team on the road. But losing to Notre Dame, a generally unimpressive team this season, indicates they are going to have problems playing away from the friendly confines of Silvio O. Conte Forum. Their two wins have been against teams (North Carolina State and Virginia Tech) that are residing at the bottom of the ACC standings. So there is little to crow about for those victories. In this week’s home games the Eagles take on Georgia Tech and North Carolina State. For a team to be successful in the ACC they have to win all, or nearly all, their home games. North Carolina State should be a breeze since BC was has already beaten that team on the Wolfpack’s home court. Georgia Tech will be a bigger challenge, but it’s a game the Eagles need to win. Boston College gets PF Marvin Reese back into their lineup after a lengthy rehab after breaking his ankle. If Reese is ready to play up to the level he was prior to the injury, that should be a big boost for the team and will allow Sam Dickens to log most of his minutes at his natural SF position. I hear that reserve SG Jason Dunn sprained his finger in practice which is likely to limit him for the next week or two. Jan. 12 Blog: I made my way last night to Silvio O. Conte Forum to watch Boston College go up against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. While there was a good-sized crowd in attendance, it was not a sell out. There were 9 lead changes and 7 ties in the first half but Boston College gained control late in the half to gain a 6 point lead at 38-32 at the end of the first 20 minutes. Then the Eagles spurted to a big lead in the early going of the 2nd half with as much as a 22 point lead. Georgia Tech cut into the Eagles lead late in the game, but there was never any doubt who would win. BC used a solid defense to cruise to a 77-62 victory. PF Marvin Reese returned to the lineup with a vengeance, scoring 13 points, hauled down 9 rebounds and had 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. SF Sam Dickens also had a very good game with 14 points and 7 rebounds. C Courtland Reese just missed getting a double-double with 9 points and 11 boards. The bench contributed 29 points. The Eagles kept any of Georgia Tech’s starters from scoring in double figures, although 2 reserves did. A solid team effort with a win that moved them into a 4-way tie for 5th place in the ACC, 1-1/2 games behind the conference leader. Thus far Florida State is atop the ACC standings with a 5-1 record and ½ game ahead of Syracuse and Pittsburgh and 1 game ahead of Duke.

Jan. 6, 2027: Boston College Eagles (10-2, 2-1) vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-4, 1-2) at Edmund P. Joyce Center in South Bend, IN Coach Frederick Aura Pre-game: Notre Dame’s lost 2 of their first 3 conference games, but they played all 3 on the road and their sole win was over #5 ranked Clemson. They’ve packed Joyce Center tonight to help motivate their team to beat us. They’ve got some really talented players including freshman SG Freddie Curtis who is averaging 19.8 ppg (and has another freshman, Mario Krimmel who was the #5 ranked recruit last season, riding the bench), PG Tom Tatus (12.4 ppg and 5.8 apg), and SF Rich Thompson (12.3 ppg). Tatum’s nursing an injury to his toe, but I don’t expect that to limit him much. I think we’re a little stronger than Notre Dame up front, but controlling their perimeter game is going to be tough and the Fighting Irish are good defensively. Kenneth Watkins, their head coach, is a superb coach and a good friend of mine, but I’m going to be doing everything I can to put another loss on his coaching record. Game: Even though we were having a tough time getting our shots to fall, we took a small lead early in the game due to some solid defense by us. But then our shooting woes got even worse and Notre Dame crept in front. It seemed the only way we could score was at the foul line. We finally put a nice little run together after the last media time out of the half to get within 2 only to have James Lilly pick up his 2nd foul. We tightened our defense at that point and edged in front to take a 27-26 lead to the locker room. After hitting just 20% of our shots throughout the bulk of the half, our effort at the end improved that to 27%. But Notre Dame only hit 39% of their shots. We controlled the boards 21-14. We need to work the ball around better in the 2nd half to get clear shots. In order to win this game we just have to shoot better. Our ball handling carelessness bit us in the butt early in the 2nd half and Notre Dame went ahead 39-33 with 15:49 to play. I got on the guys during the media timeout. Freddie Curtis caught fire making it tough for us to catch up. We got back into it and swapped the lead back and forth. With 7:53 to go it was knotted at 48-48. We were killing ourselves with turnovers, though. Gotta give some credit to the defense of the Fighting Irish, but a lot was sloppiness on our part. Our offense sputtered and we trailed 52-49 with 3:23 left. We simply were unable to hit our shots the rest of the way and fell 61-56. It was extremely disappointing that we hit just 32% of our FG attempts. While our defense kept us in the game, an anemic offense like that was deadly. Turning the ball over 16 times didn’t help either. This was a game we could have won had we played just a little better. C Courtland Reese scored 15 points, SG James Lilly hit for 12, and SF/PF Sam Dickens had 6 points and 12 rebounds. SG Freddie Curtis carried the Fighting Irish as their only player to score in double figures. He finished with 18 points.

2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans Marvin Reese has been working out at half-speed now in our team practices. His broken ankle is pretty much heeled. We expect him to be ready to play within the next week. Having him back in at PF will really help us with our interior depth. And when Marvin gets rolling again, he can give us a big boost offensively.

Jan. 4, 2027: Virginia Tech Hokies (7-4, 0-2) vs Boston College Eagles (9-2, 1-1) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA Arnold Hackstatter, Professor of History at Boston College I have two basketball players in my World History class…Josh McFadgon and Michael Millford. Michael is a great student…always prepared, good in discussions, and straight A’s. Josh is a bit of a challenge. He came to us from a junior college and wasn’t exceptionally well-prepared for the academic pressures here. He struggled early, but his coaches got him a tutor the first couple months and have had him on a study table since. His grades are edging up. In my class he’s somewhere between a B and C now. He’s quiet in class and has been tough to draw out, but getting better. Anyway, they challenged me to attend one of their games, so here I am. Outside of PE in high school, I never played basketball. Josh is starting and I’ve been led to believe that Michael is a key reserve. I’m hoping both do well tonight. Virginia Tech came out hitting nearly every shot and the Eagles fell behind 10-5. Josh McFadgon looked good though. Great ball handler and passer and hit some key baskets. Michael Millford got into the game early. The Eagles fought back and took a small lead with 14 minutes remaining in the half. The game remained close for the next 5 or 6 minutes and then BC drew away. At the end of the half, the Eagles had developed a 38-25 lead. C Courtland Reese was the leading scorer for BC with 8 points, but Josh McFadgon had 7. Michael Millford had just a single point but I thought he’d played well. Josh and Michael both started the 2nd half. Both teams were scoring freely in the early going of the 2nd half. Michael took a pass at the top of the key and drove down the lane and laid the ball into the hoop to get the crowd roaring. He was fouled on the shot and sunk the free throw for a 3 point play to put the Eagles ahead 52-39 with 15:15 remaining. A couple minutes later, Josh drove into the lane, pulled up and sunk a nice jumper to make it 57-43. Late in the half BC’s shooting went ice cold and Virginia Tech cut the lead to 2 points with 4 minutes to play. But then the Eagles went on a 15-2 run to win going away 78-63. BC players scoring in double figures were C Courtland Reese with 16 points, PG Josh McFadgon with 14, and SG James Lilly and SF/PF Sam Dickens both scored 11. Josh saw me in the stands after the game. I gave him a thumbs up and he responded with a big smile.

Dec. 30, 2026: Boston College Eagles (8-2, 0-1) vs North Carolina State Wolfpack (9-2, 0-2) at PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC ACC Network This game pitted two teams that had stellar pre-conference records but were unranked and now have yet to win in ACC play. Boston College’s star-freshman center Courtland Reese came down hard on his hand in practice, and while he was able to start, Coach Aura admitted that his hand was sore. North Carolina State’s star-senior point guard Justin Nelson also entered the game still nursing a sore calf, but was able to start. The Eagles defense was nearly impenetrable in the first half, holding NC State’s shooting to a measly 23%. BC also COMPLETELY DOMINATED the boards, pulling down 26 rebounds to just 9 by the Wolfpack. The result was a 31-16 lead at the half for Boston College. Even though C Courtland Reese was playing hurt, he still dropped in 12 points and had 5 rebounds in the first half. But the Wolfpack’s PG Justin Nelson played most of the half but scored just 3 points and was a non-factor. NC State continued to seem bewildered by both BC’s man-to-man and 2-3 zone defenses in the 2nd half. The Eagles opened a 29 point lead with 8 minutes to go. The Wolfpack finally made a run to cut the lead to 14, but then Boston College reasserted their dominance and pulled away again to record a convincing 69-47 victory. As has been their habit, BC continued to exhibit sloppy ball control, making 21 turnovers compared to just 11 by NC State. But the Eagles outshot the Wolfpack 49% to 32% and owned the boards to the tune of 46-19. BC also scored 36 points in the paint compared to 18 by the Wolfpack and held a 15-4 advantage in second-chance points. For Boston College, C Courtland Reese had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. C Steve Ross scored 11 and SG James Lilly added 10. SG Alvan Daniels with 10 points was the only NC State player to score in double figures. Security at PNC Arena was called into question when a person in a Joker costume ran onto the court during a 2nd half timeout, tossed a water balloon into the BC team huddled around their coach, wrapped a streamer around one of the referees, sprinted by one security guard, feinted around a second security guard, bowled over an usher and escaped out the doors without being caught.

Dec. 26, 2026: Boston College Eagles (8-1) vs #17 ranked Syracuse Orange (7-2, 0-0) at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY 1st Assistant Coach David Woodruff We need to try to contain SG Adrian Hooks who’s scored 25.9 ppg. Hooks has tallied 29, 33, 32 and 41 points in the Orange’s last 4 games. He gets a lot of touches and takes a lot of shots and is a wizard at drawing fouls. So my concern is that our guards will get into serious foul trouble. Syracuse’s freshman C Mike Miller has shown why he was the #9 ranked recruit last year by averaging 11.8 ppg and 8.0 rpg. He’s definitely a force to contend against inside. Josh McFadgon was able to get the last seat on a flight from Chicago to Syracuse and arrived at the Carrier Dome 45 minutes before the game was scheduled to start. We’d planned to start Willis Lofton at PG since we didn’t expect Josh to be with us for this game. But due to Josh’s effort to get back in time for the game, we’ll start him as usual. He may wear down sooner than usual. We’ll keep close tabs on him and insert Willis Lofton and Jon Ray at the Point more than usual, if needed. On another front, we got word from PF Marvin Reese’s doctor that his broken ankle is mending well, and he is likely to be ready to return to the lineup in 2 weeks. So that means he will miss just 4, or at most 5, of our ACC games. That’ll be a big boost for us. Both teams had a tough time getting untracked offensively in the early stages of the game. Defense held sway throughout the first half. We opened a 7 point lead midway through the half. But Syracuse came on strong towards the end of the half to come away with a 30-27 advantage at the break. We only hit 30% of our FG attempts. Our shooting didn’t improve in the 2nd half and Syracuse drew away from us. Our efforts to cut into their ever-expanding lead failed. Syracuse showed why they are a ranked team by smacking us 81-60. The Orange outshot us 44% to 32% and out-rebounded us 41-31. C Courtland Reese played well, scoring 16 while pulling down 7 boards. SF Sam Dickens scored 11. But we were unable to stop Syracuse’s SG Andre Hooks who scored 32 and grabbed 11 rebounds.