SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN? (DDSCB22)

[PointGuard 70]

Boston College Chronicle

By Kinsey Ramsey

MELIET ADVANCES

Boston College Eagles PG Leonard was named a quarterfinalist for this season’s Norton Award.  The award recognizes not only excellence on the court but also outstanding effort in the classroom and within the community.  Coach Frederick Aura praised Meliet saying, “Leonard has been a leader on the team.  After playing at SF last season as a freshman, he moved to his natural position at the point this season and is leading our team in scoring with 16.1 ppg and assists with 6.5 apg.  He’s also 3^rd on the team in rebounding.  He volunteers at the Boys & Girls Club and the YMCA, coaching and mentoring kids.”

Meliet was also named this week’s ACC Player of the Week.  In the Eagles’ two games this week, he scored 48 points and had 9 rebounds, 19 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.  Coach Aura said, “Leonard has been on a tear lately.  He’s averaged over 20 ppg in our last 5 games and had his first double-double with 22 points and 12 assists in our game this past week against Syracuse.”

[PointGuard 70]

2^nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting)

While neither of our two recruits this season have set the world on fire in the classroom, both Bobby Grannum and Maynard Gardner did well on their SAT’s, scoring well above the minimum required here at Boston College.  So I think they're both smart kids...but just not focused on that much on their high school classes.  It was a relief to get the SAT scores notification. 

We have no further scholarships to offer.  But we’re maintaining a small amount of money in our recruiting budget and continuing to communicate with a few available recruits just in case one of our players opts to declare early for the pros this spring and we need/want to try to land a last minute recruit.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 1, 2029: #12 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (16-6, 7-4) vs #4 ranked Boston College Eagles (18-3, 9-1) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

RyReys Blog, Ryan Reynolds

Notre Dame is solid defensively, giving up just 64.5 ppg (17^th best in the nation)…and their 6.0 bpg is 11^th best in the country.  They’re a little bit better shooting team that us and score best from the perimeter, but we’re a stronger rebounding team.  So we need to control the boards, force turnovers, and keep them from getting uncontested shots. Notre Dame has been streaky this season.  Right now they’ve won their last 4 games.  We need to win this since we’re going on a 3-game road trip next. 

*For the 2^nd straight game, SG Corey Graham picked up 2 quick fouls. 

*Defense clamped down on Notre Dame and Eagles moved out to a 13 point lead midway through the half.  PG Leonard Meliet was on fire.

*Let Notre Dame close the gap late in the half.

*At the break, up 39-32.  Meliet scored 14 in the half.

*Game tied at 44-44 with 16-1/2 minutes to go.

*BC reasserted control by going on 17-4 run.

*Then late in the game, BC hit shots from all over the court to put game totally out of reach and trample the Fighting Irish by a final score of 79-58. 

*Outshot Notre Dame 45% to 36% on FG’s and 48% to 29% on 3’s.  Forced Fighting Irish to turn the ball over 20 times.

*PG Leonard Meliet had another high scoring game with 29 points.  SF Michael Millford and C Courtland Reese each scored 12.  The Eagles’ bench again got a lot of playing time.

*Top scorers for the Eagles this season are: PG Leonard Meliet at 16.7 ppg; SG Corey Graham at 14.7 ppg; and Courtland Reese at 14.2 ppg.  Meliet has scored over 20 points in the past 4 games during which he’s averaged 24.5 ppg.  Top rebounders this season are Reese with 8.5 rpg and PF Danny Toliver with 5.9 rpg.  Tops in assists are Meliet with 6.5 apg and Graham with 2.4 apg.

*PG Leonard Meliet was named the ACC’s Player of the Week for the 2^nd straight week.

*Boston College now has won 9 games in a row.  Their 10-1 ACC record has them 2 games ahead of North Carolina and Duke which are tied for 2^nd place.

*Boston College edged up another notch to 3^rd in the Media Poll…finally one notch ahead of Duke.  In the Coaches Poll Duke remains 3^rd and BC is 4^th.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 6, 2029: #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (19-8, 10-1) vs Virginia Cavaliers (10-11, 6-6) at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA

PF Danny Toliver

Coach Fed has me moving over occasionally to center during games lately when Courtland Reese takes a breather.  I guess it’s a way of not cutting my playing time as Coach Fed increases Winston Minahan’s and Mike Braxton’s playing time.  It’s all OK by me. 

This is the only time we’re scheduled to play Virginia this season, so even though it’s an away game for us, we want to be sure we come away with a win.  I’ll be going up against Seth Wallace, the Cavalier’s leading scorer.

We led 9-2 at the first media timeout.  Coach Fed wanted us to keep the defensive pressure on.  The refs were calling me and others tight on our defense on Wallace.  So that forced us to back off some which allowed him to get some easy scores.  But we were sizzling on offense, particularly Leonard (Meliet) and Michael (Millford).  With 5 minutes left in the half, we were on top 39-21…we’d hit about 2/3 of our shots at that point.  We finished the half with a 46-28 lead, outshooting Virginia 61% to 36%.  We also totally dominated the boards (21-8).  Millford scored 15 points and Meliet had 13.  Wallace had a heckuva half, scoring 12 points.  We need to put the clamps on him in the second half.

The refs tagged Leonard Meliet with his 3^rd foul at the 18:34 mark.  Virginia found the range in the 2^nd half and cut the lead to 10 with 7-1/2 minutes remaining.  Their home crowd was going wild.  Coach Fed got on us during a time out.  That relit our fire both offensively and defensively, and we quickly pulled away, silenced the crowd, and breezed to a 90-68 shellacking of the Cavaliers.  We hit 57% of our FG’s, 47% of our 3’s, and out-rebounded Virginia 37-20.  This extended our win streak to 10 games.

SF Michael Millford had a big game with 19 points.  C Courtland Reese had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, PG Leonard Meliet hit for 15 points, SG Corey Graham scored 10, and I had 8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.  And I was instrumental in holding Virginia’s Seth Wallace to just 2 points in the second half.  I got a nice pat on the back for that.

SG Adrian Moss sustained a sprained toe in the game.  He’s likely to miss our next two or three games.  He’s really ticked off since he’s been wanting to play more minutes.  He tried talking the trainers and coaches into letting him play, but they’ve been adamant.  All of us hate it when we get injured, but for a freshman sub, it’s an even more demoralizing event.  When I was a freshman at Georgia Tech before transferring to Boston College, I injured my shoulder and hid the severity so I could continue starting.  I paid a price for that by having the injury linger and also by having some sub-standard games.  I’m not one of the most friendly guys on the Eagles roster, but Adrian is and he’s a really good guy.  So I sorta surprised myself by empathizing with him and letting him know he’s got a lot of talent with a big upside potential so he’ll get a lot more playing time in future seasons.  I’m not sure if that means I’m maturing or is just an aberration for me.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 8, 2029: #3 ranked Boston College (20-3, 11-1) vs North Carolina Tar Heels (15-8, 8-4) at Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC

Boston Herald

EAGLES OFFENSE CLICKS

The Boston College Eagles played their second game on the road in three days when they met North Carolina in Chapel Hill.  The question of whether the Eagles might be worn down was quickly answered.  Boston College spurted out to 14-1 and 21-5 leads.   They held onto a double digit lead through the rest of the first half.  For a second straight game the Eagles had hot hands.  They hit 63% of their shots to lead 50-37 at the end of the first half.

North Carolina trimmed the lead to 9 points early in the second half.  But Boston College would not let the Tar Heels get any closer.  They pulled away again and held on to win 92-81 to extend their win streak to 11 games.  The Eagles hit 53% of their field goal attempts.

PG Leonard Meliet poured in 25 points.  C Courtland Reese had his second straight double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds.  SG Corey Graham hit for 18 points, while reserve SF Keith Kolder added 10 points.

The win maintained Boston College’s two game lead over 2^nd place Duke in the ACC standings.

[PointGuard 70]

At home with Fred (F) and Janeka (J) Aura:

J: Fred, I know you’re reviewing game films for your next game, but I need to talk to you about Malik.

F: Malik?  Malik’s doing great.  His grades are good. He’s starring on his high school basketball team. What more could you ask?

J: I won’t argue about his academics and basketball, but…

F: But?

J: But…I’m noticing some big changes in his attitude.  He’s not willing to talk and is sullen around the house.

F: Hey, he’s a teenager.

J: Well, you’re not around the house all that much since it’s basketball season and so I think you’re maybe not as tuned in about Malik as you think you are.  He’s spending all his spare time with Travis Buchanan.

F: Travis?  He’s Malik’s teammate, so Malik spending time with him isn’t all that unusual.  Besides we recruited Travis.  I like him.  He had a good campus visit and I did a home visit.  Both his parents went to Boston College and they really wanted him to play for the Eagles.  And we were right at the top of Travis’ schools of interest.  Unfortunately, our primary focus wasn’t on interior players this year.  So when we got commitments from our two highly ranked recruits, I just wasn’t able to offer Travis a scholarship.  I think he and his parents were very disappointed.  But he ended up accepting a scholarship to Georgia Tech, so he’s in good shape.  The only bad thing is that we’ll have to go up against him on the court the next four years.

J: You may like Travis, but I’m not so sure about him. I’m just getting a funny feeling about him.  I really wish Malik wasn’t so tied into Travis.

F: Honey, I think you’re overly concerned.  Let’s just give Malik a little space and see how things go.

J: I’m sorry, Fred, but I just can’t close my eyes to things like you can.  I’m not pressing Malik, but I’m going to stay very attuned to what’s going on with him, and I think you’d do well to do the same.  Sometimes your family has to take priority over your team.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 10, 2029: #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (21-3, 12-1) vs Pittsburgh Panthers (12-11, 6-7) at Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA

Vince Ferris, Pittsburgh Panthers fan

Great start!  The Panthers score the first 6 points.  The Eagles don’t look so good, 3 turnovers already.  Damn!  The refs just called the second foul on our start PG, Shahar Benson…but we’re still ahead 12-8.  That’s it!...2 fouls on BC’s PG Meliet…evens things up a bit…and we’re on top 25-19 at the midpoint of the half.  Both teams are really knocking down their shots.  Not good…BC captures the lead at 30-29 with 8 minutes to go.  We fall behind by 4 but come back to get retake the lead at 36-35.  We got the Eagles on the run…our guys are playing tough…we’re up by 7 with 3-1/2 minutes remaining in the half.  Yeah!  The half ends and it’s Pittsburgh-52, Boston College-43.  The Panthers hit 68% of their FG’s and 60% of their 3’s…really kicking butt!  SG Leroy Killion drilled in 16 points for the Panthers.  BC’s C Courtland Reese had 10 points and 5 boards…heard he was good and he is.

BC scores the first 8 points of the 2^nd half to cut the lead to a single point.  But the Panthers then go on a 6-0 run to reestablish a decent lead.  Killion can’t be stopped, he’s now got 20 points.  This is a helluva game…score is 60-59 in favor of Pittsburgh with 13:19 to play.  Then BC goes ahead by a point, but the Panthers strike right back to go up by 4.  Refs are doing a number on our boys…helping the Eagles to go up 70-67 with just 10 minutes to go.  But the Panthers don’t quit, they score the next 10 points.  This is really a back-and-forth game though.  BC goes back on top 83-82 with 2:15 remaining.  Pittsburgh ties the game a minute later.  We hit a one of two free throws with 44 seconds on the clock putting the Panthers ahead 87-86.  The Eagles call a time out with 14 seconds to go.  They set up a play but a 15 foot jumper goes off the front of the rim and Pittsburgh holds on to take down Boston College 87-86.  Fantastic game.  Every time BC took a small lead, Pittsburgh came back.  The Panthers outshot the Eagles 59% to 54% and held a 29-26 rebounding advantage.

The Eagles had 4 players in double figures (C Jason Caldwell-16, SF Keith Kolder-15, C Courtland Reese-14, and SG Corey Graham-14), but SG Leroy Killion scored 27 points to lead the Panthers to victory. 

[PointGuard 70]

Good News, Bad News

3^rd Assistant Coach Rob Rowland           

First the good news: PG Leonard Meliet was named as a semi-finalist for the Norton Award.  Quite an accomplishment.  But well-earned indeed!

On a different good news note: we’re #4 in the Coaches Poll, but now are #2 in the Media Poll…hard to explain the difference, but #2 is as high as we’ve ever been.  We also have the best NET ranking of any Division I team.

Now the bad news: PF Mike Braxton didn’t get to play in our loss to Pittsburgh and then mouthed off to teammates about Coach Aura not liking him and that he should be playing instead of Danny Toliver.  Pure BS.  Unfortunately this isn’t the first time Mike’s done this.  Coach Aura took him aside and really chewed him out.  Surprisingly, Mike apologized and said he’d work on doing better.  All we can do is hope he will improve.  His comments aren’t going over well with most of the rest of the team, and he’s not been close with any of we coaches either. We’ve tried a variety of things to improve his mood and relationship with the team and us…other than giving him the starting job and lots of playing time he wants…but nothing has clicked.

 So even though I think he has it in him to be an excellent player in the future, I really think he’s going to transfer away from us after this season so it’s won’t be for us.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 13, 2029: North Carolina State Wolfpack (15-10, 7-7) vs #2 ranked Boston College Eagles (21-4, 12-2) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

2^nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans

We’re finally back home after 3 straight road games.  Two strong wins and a tough loss, but Pittsburgh played great against us and uncharacteristically our defense cracked against the Panthers.  So now it’s time to get back on track tonight.  We barely edged in overtime when we played them earlier this season on their court. 

We got off to a good start.  We hit 8 of our first 13 shots while forcing the Wolfpack to make 7 turnovers and took an 18-9 lead after 6-1/2 minutes of play.  We expanded our lead to 28-14 but then sort of stumbled our way through the rest of the half.  At the break we led 48-37.  We outshot NC State 57% to 40%.  C Courtland Reese led our offense with 11 points.

We got sloppy in the 2^nd half and the Wolfpack pulled tied the game at 65-65 with 9:45 to play and then when ahead by 3 with 8-1/2 minutes to go.  There were several lead changes after that. With 2 minutes to go we led 81-79 but C Courtland Reese fouled out. We scored 4 points in the next 50 seconds.  From that point it came down to us scoring on free throws and the Wolfpack hitting FG’s.  We maintained the lead and won by a very narrow score of 94-89.  NC State hit 13 of 25 from beyond the arc, but we knocked down 52% of our FG’s. 

The Wolfpack had 6 players score in double figures.  Our leading scorers were PG Leonard Meliet with 20 points, C Courtland Reese scoring 18, SG Corey Graham with 15 points, and C Jason Caldwell who added 11 points. 

Coach Aura blasted the team due to our second straight game with lax defense.

The pollsters apparently were equally unimpressed with our defense.  We dropped back down to #3 in the polls and Duke, which is now ½ game behind us in the ACC standings, replaced us at #2.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 20, 2029: Virginia Tech Hokies (6-19, 2-14) vs #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (22-4, 13-2) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Sports Report on WHDH TV’s 11 o’clock news:

Duke ripped Miami 90-76 tonight for their 9^th straight victory.  So a win by Boston College over Virginia Tech was a must for the Eagles if they were to keep from slipping a half-game behind the Blue Devils for first place in the ACC.

Following last week’s loss to Pittsburgh and soft win over North Carolina State, Coach Fred Aura started freshman Darius Hein at SF for the first time this season. 

Virginia Tech gave Boston College everything they could handle for the first 17 minutes of the game.  But the Eagles went on an 11-2 run in the final 3 minutes of the first half to go ahead 48-39 at the half.  PG Leonard Meliet and C Courtland Reese combined to score 32 points in the first half.

Boston College held onto a lead throughout the second half but wasn’t able to shake the Hokies until the final few minutes of the game when the Eagles pulled away for an 89-71 victory.

When interviewed after the game, Coach Aura has this to say, “Virginia Tech came at us hard all night.  We gave them far too many easy shots, so we’re going to have to continue to work on re-establishing a solid defense.  We also just couldn’t keep a handle on the ball tonight.  There’s no excuse for us making 22 turnovers…but the Hokies made an equal number so there was an equal amount of sloppy play on both ends of the court.  Fortunately we got big nights from C Courtland Reese with 29 points, PG Leonard Meliet with 25 points, and reserve PF Winston Minahan with 11 points.  But this was the third straight game in which we haven’t played well.  We have two road games coming up later this week and then finish with home games against Duke and Louisville, so we need to get our game back together and fast.”  When asked about his change to the starting lineup, Aura said, “Darius Hein has been playing exceptionally well in practice so he earned the start.  While Darius is more accustomed to playing PF, he handles the SF position well and gives us more rebounding strength.  I was satisfied with how he played, so I think he deserves another start.  Then we’ll reevaluate to determine our best starting lineup for the remainder of our season.”

[PointGuard 70]

Fred Aura

My sons are playing some very good basketball.  Omari has scored in double figures in four of Providence’s last six games and he just missed double figures in the firth of those games.  He’s now averaging 7.3 ppg in his sophomore season for the Friars.

And in his junior year Malik is the leading scorer on his high school team.  He’s been the team’s starting SG in every game they’ve played this season.  Quite a few college teams have scouted him thus far.

I’m darned proud of both Omari and Malik.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 22, 2029: #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (23-4, 14-2) vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons (13-13, 7-10) at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC

Boston College Chronicle

By Kinsey Ramsey

DOWN TO THE WIRE

The Eagles trailed Wake Forest most of the first half.  Poor shooting (35%) and 0 for 4 from beyond the arc by BC compared to hot shooting (68%) including 7 of 8 on 3-pointers by the Demon Deacons resulted in Wake Forest holding a 43-38 halftime advantage.  Only SG Corey Graham, who scored 16 points in the half, was effective offensively for the Eagles.

BC’s shooting improved in the 2^nd half, but the Deacon Demons continued to knock down their shots also.  Finally with 10:40 left, the Eagles took a 58-56 lead on Graham’s 20 foot jump shot.  But the lead was short-lived.  After falling behind by 5 points, the Eagles again came back to tie the game at 66-66 with 2-1/2 minutes to play.  Wake Forest then scored 5 unanswered points in the next 40 seconds.  BC called a time out…their designed play resulted in a miss but C Courtland Reese grabbed the rebound, put the ball back into the hoop and was fouled.  He sunk the free throw to cut the Demon Deacons lead to 2 points with 1:32 on the clock.  Wake Forest missed a shot and BC again took a time out with a minute to go.  The Eagles again missed a shot.  Wake Forest tried to work down the clock but threw the ball away.  Michael Millford was fouled with 36 seconds remaining and he went to the line for a one-and-one.  He dropped both free throws thru the silks to tie the game at 71-71.  Wake Forest missed another shot, as did  the Eagles.  With Wake Forest working the ball around to set up a final shot, PF Danny Toliver tipped the ball away out front sped up court to retrieve the ball and drove to the hoop for a dunk giving BC a lead with a single second left in the game.  Wake Forest called a time out to set up a desperation shot.  The Eagles didn’t let them get the shot off and escaped with a 73-71 nail-biting victory.

Top scorers for the Eagles were SG Corey Graham with 22 points, C Courtland Reese who scored 16 to go together with 8 rebounds, and PG Leonard Meliet who added 10 points plus 8 assists.

While the Eagles were outshot by Wake Forest 53% to 42%, they forced the Demon Deacons to make 29 turnovers.

The Eagles now travel to South Carolina to take on Clemson Friday night for their third game this week.  After that they then have just two home games remaining to close out their regular season.  One of those is against second place Duke.

[PointGuard 70]

Phone call between Janeka (J) and Fred (F) Aura:

(J) I’m really concerned, Fred.  I told you that there were some big changes in Malik.  He is continuing to spend more and more time away from home and coming jusin later and later.  He’s on social media a lot more all the time and he’s pretty secretive about what sites he’s on or what he’s doing there.  His school work is suffering due to him just doing the minimum on his homework.  The school called me today to let me know that Malik has been acting up at school.  They counseled him and gave him a warning, but said if he continues the next step is a suspension.  

It seems to me that Travis Buchanan is exerting a lot of influence over Malik.  Remember you told me Travis has received a scholarship from Georgia Tech?  Now Travis is trying hard to convince Malik to also go to Georgia Tech when he graduates next year.  Things have improved for African-Americans down south.  But, Fred, I don’t want our son going down there for school.  And I don’t appreciate Travis giving him the hard sale to follow him down there.  And Travis has also hooked him up with a girl.  We haven’t met her and Malik’s not talking with me about her, but from what I hear from others who know here, she could lead him astray.  I keep trying to talk with Malik, but he just keeps clamming up.

(F) OK, that all sounds bad to me also.  I’ll be home tomorrow.  It’s Saturday so Malik will be home all day and I will talk with him then.

(J) I’m pleased to hear that.  I just hope you’re more successful than I’ve been.  Good luck with the game against Clemson tonight.

[PointGuard 70]

Feb. 24, 2029: #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (24-4, 15-2) vs Clemson Tigers (17-10, 9-8) at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, SC

SG Glen Robinson, ineligible this season due to transfer

Having to sit out this year has been a real downer.  I can’t wait for next season to begin. Cincinnati, which I played for my first two years in college, has had a so-so season.  They’re 8-9 and in the middle of the American Athletic Conference standing.  So my decision to transfer to Boston College was a good one.  The Eagles have had great seasons last year and this year and the team should even be better next season.  Corey Graham has played well at SG this year, but I think I could have been a big asset for the team at SF which has been the Eagle’s weak link this year.

This is our final away game.  We beat the Tigers by 12 points when we played them on our court.  Coach Aura has been warning us that they’re going to be a tough opponent on their court tonight.  But…I’ll be sitting on the far end of the bench again, watching yet another game.

We started well opening an early 8 point lead, but then let Clemson catch fire and go on an 18-4 run that gave them a 22-16 lead at the midpoint of the first half.  We fought hard and kept it close, finishing the half just down by 2 at 44-42.  Both teams shot well, but the refs put the Tigers on the line too much. 

It was a dog-fight the first 12 minutes of the 2^nd half.  There were so many lead changes you finally just had to figure when one team got the lead that the other team would score on their next possession.  But then we went on a 9-0 run that put us up 75-68 with 8 minutes to go.  From there our defense shut down Clemson and we edged away to an 84-74 victory.

Our top scorers were Leonard Meliet who threw down 18 points, SG Corey Graham who scored 16, and PG Rashon Thorn who hit 5 of 6 FG’s including all 4 of his 3-point attempts to finish with 15 points.  C Courtland Reese scored 8 and pulled down 12 boards.  As they did in our first game against Clemson, their starting guards Lou Robinson and Darius Wilson combined to score 32 points.

So we are going into the final week of the regular season with a 1-game lead over Duke.  But the Blue Devils are our next opponent, so the conference title will be on the line.  We beat them on their court, so I like our chances with them on ours.

[PointGuard 70]

V

Fred Aura confronts his son Malik:

(somewhat abbreviated version)

Fred: What’s going on, Malik?

Malik: Nothin’.

Fred: Well, that’s not what I hear.

Malik: Sounds like maybe someone’s got things wrong then.

Fred: Let’s quit the jivin’.  Your grades are slipping, your attitude at school sucks, so much so that you could very well end up getting suspended, and…the main thing I’m definitely unhappy with is your lack of respect toward your mother.

Malik: I’m still doing OK in school.  The classes have just got harder.  And I just haven’t felt like talking much at home. Got a lot of things on my mind, ya know.  The team’s about to start playoffs so I gotta concentrate on that.  The guys depend on me.

Fred: Yes, you’re doing great on the basketball court.  But…you need to get your act together in the other parts of your life. Get back to working hard in class and on your homework.  Be respectful and positive toward your teachers.  And treat your mother like the person who cares more about you that anyone else.  As far as basketball goes, if you don’t get your act together and your attitude and actions don’t turn around, there will be no basketball because I’ll talk with your coach, who I am sure feels the same way that I do and you’ll be off the team.  While the team may be counting on you and you have a responsibility toward them, you have complete control over that since your attitude, focus, effort and actions EARN you the right to play.  Got that?

Malik: [After a short silence]. Yeah Dad, I got it. 

Fred: Good. I’m going to be checking in on you every night.  Let Travis and your new girlfriend know that won’t be spending much time with them for a while.

[PointGuard 70]

Mar. 1, 2029: #2 Duke Blue Devils (25-5, 15-3) vs #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (25-4, 16-2) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director

Big game.  Duke’s just a game behind us in the ACC standings.  A month-and-a-half ago we beat them by points in Durham, NC with a good come-back in the 2^nd half.  The two centers, our Courtland Reese and Duke’s Brian Taylor both scored 20+ points and each one had 9 rebounds.  Taylor has continued to be one of the top candidates for the Norton award.  He’s a tough guy to contain.  Derek Hastie and Jerry Henry, Duke’s starting guards, both hit a high percentage of their shots.  Their defense is like a wet blanket for opponents, limiting their opposition to just 60.3 ppg (2^nd best in the nation).  Since the game against us, the Blue Devils have won all 10 of their subsequent games and have climbed back up to #2 in the polls, a step above us. 

Conte Forum is filled to capacity for this game…mostly  BC fans, but there is a sizeable and noisy Duke contingent as well.  The place is rockin’ even before the game begins.

Three straight turnovers and driving layups by Duke give them a 10-2 lead after just 2 minutes of play.  Then SG Corey Graham picks up his 2^nd foul a minute later.  Midway through the half the Eagles trail 25-9.  The air has been sucked out of Conte Forum.  We struggled to cut the lead to 8 points, but then another series of turnovers by us propelled the Blue Devils to a commanding 44-23 halftime lead.  We were outshot 64% to 29% and the 11 turnovers we made were devastating.

We could only make repeated dents in the lead for the first 12 minutes of the 2^nd half.  But we got within 10 points with 5 minutes to go.  But the Blue Devils responded by hitting a series of FG’s to keep us from making a serious challenge.  We ended up on the short end of a 76-67 score. 

Very little positive about this game.  We were simply outplayed.  C Courtland Reese and PG Leonard Meliet were our only players to score in double figures.  Reese had 16 points and Meliet scored 13 points.

The loss puts us into a tie with Duke for 1^st place in the ACC.  One game to go.

[PointGuard 70]

Mar. 3, 2029: Louisville Cardinals (17-13, 9-10) vs #3 ranked Boston College Eagles (25-5, 16-3) at Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Gerald McEntire, President of “Eagles Soar”

The basketball fan club for BC, Eagles Soar, has grown a great deal the past two years due to our basketball team’s successes.  Good turnout by our club for this final home game of the season.  We were disappointed with the loss to Duke earlier this week.  But we’re back to cheer on the Eagles tonight, hopefully lifting to yet another victory and at least a share of 1^st place in the conference. 

Strange…BC is starting Mike Braxton at SF tonight.  He plays very little so it’s surprising to see him in the starting lineup.

Well, Braxton’s not afraid to put up shots.  Missed his first one, but then got fouled on his second attempt.  He sank both foul shots putting the Eagles ahead 8-2.  Once Louisville got going, both teams’ offenses predominated.  Louisville closed to within a single point, but then BC pulled away with hot shooting.  Fouls are piling up on Cardinals’ players…their coach is really riding the refs.  The half ended with BC on top 56-40.  The Eagles hit 64% of their FG’s and out-rebounded the Cardinals 20-10.  All eleven BC players who got into the game in the half, scored, led by C Jason Caldwell’s 10 points.

Halftime report from Durham, NC is that Duke leads Wake Forest 56-33 at the half, so it looks like the Eagles will need to win tonight to tie for 1^st place.

Coach Aura is playing his bench a lot…and they’re doing well.  Adrian Moss on fire…4 for 4 from the field including 2 from beyond the arc, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 10 points in 10 minutes of play to help the Eagles go ahead 87-63 with 5 minutes remaining.  BC went on to drub Louisville 100-78.  The Eagles knocked down 62% of the field goal attempts, 53% of their 3 point attempts, and held a 35-27 rebounding advantage.  BC dominated in the paint, scoring 40 points while Louisville scored just 14 in the paint.

C Courtland Reese scored 17 points in just 16 minutes of play, C Jason Caldwell put in 11 points, and SG Adrian Moss, SG Corey Graham, and C Greg Kidd each scored 10 points.  The seven bench players put on the court by Coach Aura scored a total of 58 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and dished out 9 assists.

Duke won 93-57 over Wake Forest.

[PointGuard 70]

Janeka Aura

Our son Omari came on strong as Providence’s regular season wound down.  He scored in double figures in 6 of their last 9 games, averaging 10.3 ppg over that span while averaging 19.3 mpg.  He hit 28 of 58 FG’s and 11 of 25 of his three-point attempts during that 9 game span.  This is important since he didn’t shoot too well last season or early this season.  He seems to be finding his shooting eye.

[PointGuard 70]

Boston College Chronicle

EAGLES TOPS IN ACC

By Kinsey Ramsey

Boston College’s basketball team finished their regular season schedule with an overall record of 26 wins against 5 losses.  The Eagles’ ACC 17-3 record resulted in a tie with Duke for 1^st place in the ACC.  But BC will be the #1 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament. 

Here are the ACC standings:

Boston College: 17-3, 26-5, #3 in polls, #1 NET ranking

Duke: 17-3, 27-5, #2 in polls, #5 NET ranking

Notre Dame: 13-7, 22-9, #10 in polls, #13 NET ranking

Florida State: 11-9, 17-13, Unranked, #33 NET ranking

Pittsburgh: 11-9, 17-13, , Unranked, #60 NET ranking

North Carolina: 11-9, 18-13, Unranked, #55 NET ranking

Virginia: 10-10, 14-15, Unranked, #65 NET ranking

Clemson: 10-10, 18-12, Unranked, #56 NET ranking

Miami (FL): 10-10, 18-13, Unranked, #53 NET ranking

Louisville: 9-11, 17-14, Unranked, #62 NET ranking

North Carolina St.: 9-11, 16-15, Unranked, #109 NET ranking

Wake Forest: 8-12, 14-15, Unranked, #124 NET ranking

Georgia Tech: 6-14, 14-17, Unranked, #92 NET ranking

Syracuse: 5-15, 13-17, Unranked, #159 NET ranking

Virginia Tech: 4-16, 8-21, Unranked, #292 NET ranking

The Eagles will be at full strength for the ACC Tourney, but the Athletic Department announced that sophomore PG Leonard Meliet, the team’s leading scorer, has decided to declare for the pro draft that will occur this summer.  Coach Aura acknowledged Meliet’s decision and said, “Leonard has been a leader on our team in both seasons he’s been here.  He’s been nominated for the Norton Award both years and this season was a semi-finalist for the award.  We’ll miss Leonard next season but are proud that he will be going to the pros and anticipate he will have a long and successful professional career.”

Leonard Meliet’s regular season stats for Boston College: 68 games, 68 games started, 30.5 mpg, 16.0 ppg, 4.7 apg, 3.6 rpg, 1.0 spg, 0.7 bpg, 45.1% FG%, 40.5% 3P%, 76.2% FT%; ACC 2^nd Team All-Conference as a freshman, ACC 1^st Team All-Conference as a sophomore.

Edited December 18, 2021 by PointGuard

[PointGuard 70]

Fred Aura

What do we do about Mike Braxton?

I met with my assistant coaches today to discuss Mike Braxton.  Mike is a freshman PF who was a highly ranked recruit.  He came to us needing development and refinement of his skills, though.  We have played him some, although he’s only averaged 5.3 mpg, 1.2 ppg, and 1.1 rpg.  His shooting percentage has been low.  But he has excellent potential.  We started him at SF in our last regular season game.  He played 23 minutes, scored 5 points, and hauled down 3 boards, but hit just 1 of 5 field goals, so while not bad, not great either.

As the season has progressed, he’s expressed unhappiness about not starting and playing more.  His relationship with the team and coaches is extremely low.  His negative attitude could possibly infect others, although because he’s not really made friends with anyone on the team, that’s not been the case thus far.  He was appreciative toward me about getting the start, but there was no uptick in his relationship with teammates.

We discussed our options with respect to Mike.  It’s very likely he may opt to transfer.  That would result in our having 3 rather than 2 scholarships to fill this coming year.  If he transfers, we could possibly fill one of those scholarships with a transfer player…or we could hold on to it and go after an extra high school recruit.  We’re relatively deep at PF so we’d look to strengthen another position. 

There was discussion about possibly cutting Mike now and thus opening a scholarship that could be filled before the end of this season.  Since there’s a strong possibility that he will decide to transfer, that’s an attractive option.  It also would give us a chance to go after a strong C recruit that we’ve been maintaining contact with who would sub for Courtland Reese this coming season and be ready to take over as a starter when Courtland graduates after next season.  

But cutting players isn’t something I prefer doing.  And should Mike not transfer, he could become a very strong player for us, if not next season as a sophomore, then most certainly as a junior and senior. 

The other problem with cutting him and immediately opening a scholarship to fill is that now Leonard Meliet has declared for the draft, we have already have an additional scholarship to fill this season.  Our remaining recruiting budget is extremely low and that works against us successfully going after two recruits.

Long and short…we decide to not cut Mike and see what he does.  We will offer the scholarship that opened due to Leonard’s declaring for the draft to one of two C recruits that we’ve been actively recruiting this spring.

[PointGuard 70]

Boston Herald

ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Day 1:

#15 seed Virginia Tech-85, #10 seed Louisville-70.  Lowly Virginia Tech came out on fire and never looked back.  They built a 23 point lead and led by 18 at the half.  With a surprising offensive and defensive display, the Hokies totally throttled the Cardinals.  SG Tony Harrington and C Reggie Evans both scored 20 points for the Hokies with Harrington also recording 10 rebounds and Evans getting 4 boards, 4 assists, and 5 steals. PF Josh Miller hit for 15 points plus had 8 rebounds.

#14 seed Syracuse-75, #11 seed North Carolina St.-66.  Syracuse led from start to finish.  The Orange led by just 5 points at the half, but owned the first part of the 2^nd half, building a 25 point lead.  The Wolfpack fought back to narrow the gap, but simply ran out of time to erase such a large lead.  Syracuse was led by SG Steve Darby’s 18 points and PF Jason Hamilton’s 12 points and 9 rebounds.  SF Dusty Stowers scored 19 points for North Carolina St.

#12 seed Wake Forest-74, #13 seed Georgia Tech-69.  Even though Wake Forest led the entire game, their biggest lead was just 12 points.  With the Yellow Jackets staying close, this was an exciting game all the way to the end.  C Fred Simpson and SF Donald Howard both scored 15 points for the Demon Deacons with Howard also pulling down 8 boards and Simpson recording 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.  Topping the scoring for Georgia Tech were C Scotty Brunson and reserve C Travis Hemsley, both of whom scored 16 points.

[PointGuard 70]

Boston Herald

ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Day 2:

#5 seed Pittsburgh-82, #12 seed Wake Forest-74. Wake Forest led by as much as 6 points in the first half, but by the half trailed the Panthers by 3 points.  The second half was close most of the way, but Pittsburgh began pulling away late in the game.  All 5 Pittsburgh starters scored in double figures, led by SF Lee Jenkins 19 points and C Matt Swanson’s 13 points and 10 rebounds.  High point man for the game, though, was Wake Forest’s Ryan Harris who poured in 24 points.

#6 seed North Carolina-88, #14 seed Syracuse-65.  North Carolina took care of business from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer.  By the end of the first half, the Tar Heels has established a 17 point lead.  Their lead ballooned to 29 points at one point in the 2^nd half.  C Stephan Monroe scored 20 points for North Carolina with PG Jamie Law dishing out 11 assists.  SF Tyrone Graves was the only member of the Orange to score in double figures and he had just 11 points.

#7 seed Virginia-93, #15 seed Virginia Tech-78.  The Hokies stuck with the Cavaliers early in the game, but by the end of the first half, Virginia had taken control and led by 18 points.  They simply held Virginia Tech off in the 2^nd half to cruise to an easy victory.  Virginia’s bench scored 49 points, led by guard Lawrence Bailey’s 18 points and forward Jason Demanby’s 10 points and 11 boards.  C Reggie Evans scored 21 points and SG Tony Harrington hit for 20 points for Virginia Tech.

#9 seed Miami (FL)-79, #8 seed Clemson-72.  The lead shifted continuously back and forth through the entire first half with Clemson coming away with a narrow single point lead at the break.  The game continued to be tight in the 2^nd half, but the Hurricanes edged away from the Tigers late in the game.  Miami’s PG Chris Skiffer scored 19 and had 7 assists.  C Jeremiah Brown and SG Darius Wilson scored 14 points each for Clemson.

[PointGuard 70]

Boston Herald

ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS

 

Quarterfinals:

#4 seed Florida State-65, #5 seed Pittsburgh-52.  There were 9 lead changes in the first half.  Florida State came out of the half with a slim 36-33 lead.  But the Seminoles applied a stout defense in the 2^nd half, limiting the Panthers to just 19 points allowing Florida State to gradually pull away.  SG Evan Martin scored 14 points and PF Brett Blizzard had 13 points and 9 rebounds for Florida State.  Pittsburgh’s PG Shahar Benson scored 13 points.

#6 seed North Carolina-71, #3 seed Notre Dame-54.  Even though the Tar Heels took the lead immediately, they weren’t able to shake the Fighting Irish in the first half.  North Carolina steadily pulled away throughout the entire 2^nd half.  C Stephan Monroe and PG Jamie Lane again led the way for North Carolina with both scoring 14 points.  Reserve C Kareem Turner topped the scoring for Notre Dame with 16 points.

#2 seed Duke-71, #7 seed Virginia-66.  The first half was a dog fight with Duke escaping with a slim 3 point lead at the break.  Duke came out and opened a 14 point lead in the 2^nd half and then had to hang on as Virginia blazed back late in the game.  Leading the Blue Devils to victory was C Brian Taylor with 15 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks.  PG Anthony Hart scored 16 points for the Cavaliers.

#1 seed Boston College-95, #9 seed Miami (FL)-87.  Boston College beat the Hurricanes by 24 points earlier this season, but was just a 2-1/2 point favorite coming into this game. 

The Eagles had a shaky first couple minutes but then opened a small lead.  But a scoring drought midway through the first half allowed Miami to take a 4 point lead.  PG Leonard Meliet brought the Eagles back into the game with a barrage of 3 pointers.  The Hurricanes shot well to hang in until BC opened a 49-42 halftime lead. 

The Eagles expanded their lead to 12 points early in the 2^nd half, but again the middle of the half was unkind to BC.  Miami stormed back to take a 1 point lead.  The Eagles edged back into the lead.  But with a minute to go Miami was but 2 points behind.  Leonard Meliet then sank a long 3 making the score 89-84 with 54 seconds to go.  He was fouled trying to hit another 3 on BC’s next possession and sunk all 3 free throws to put the Eagles up by 8 with 35 seconds remaining.  Meliet hit yet another 3 with 12 seconds to go and Boston College escaped with a 95-87 win that was closer than the final score.

Leonard Meliet finished with 23 points.  SG Corey Graham tossed in 19 points.  C Courtland Reese had 15 points and PF Danny Toliver added 10.  The top scorer for Miami was C Travis Telly with 16 points.

Following the game, Coach Fred Aura said, “I give lots of credit to Miami, but we really need to pick it up if we’re going to go further in this tournament.  Fortunately, Leonard (Meliet) saved us at two critical points in the game.  He hit a series of big time shots at a point in the first half when we looked terrible and had fallen behind that kicked our team in the butt.  Throughout the 2^nd half Miami employed exceptionally tight defense on him to bottle him up offensively, but when the game was on the line at the very end, he scored 9 points in the span of 44 seconds to ice the game for us.  I said that I’d miss him next season since he’s declared for the pro draft.  Now you can see why.”

[PointGuard 70]

Boston Herald

ACC TOURNAMENT RESULTS

 

Semifinals:

#2 seed Duke-69, #6 seed North Carolina-62.  The Tar Heels looked like they’d blow open the game in the early going as they built a 13 point lead. But Duke came back to life to go up by 3 at the break.  The Blue Devils held a lead throughout the 2^nd half, during which 3 starters for North Carolina fouled out, and won what was a very hard played defensive battle by both teams.  The Blue Devils were sent to the line 17 more times and scored 10 more points on free throws than the Tar Heels.  Duke was propelled by PF Dave Chavis’ 23 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.  North Carolina’s top scorer was SF Del Bender who had 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting.

#1 seed Boston College-92, #4 seed Florida State-65.  Boston College used a tenacious defense coupled with hot hand shooting to steadily pull away from Florida State throughout the first half.  SG Corey Graham popped in 16 points and C Courtland Reese added 10 enroute to the Eagles’ 50-28 halftime lead. 

The Seminoles cracked the Eagles’ defense in the 2^nd half and gradually whittled away at BC’s lead.  With 7-1/2 minutes to go, Florida State was within 10 points of the Eagles.  But the refs paraded BC players to the foul line to enable the Eagles to smash the Seminoles.

Leading the way for Boston College was SG Corey Graham with 25 points.  C Courtland Reese scored 12 and SF Mike Braxton chipped in 10 points.  But after the game, it was revealed that Braxton sprained his ankle late in the game and will likely be unavailable for the championship game.

“It’s embarrassing to say we won the game at the line, but that’s a fact. That’s the most foul shots a team I’ve coached has ever had.  I’m not surprised that Florida State Coach Issiah Charles poured his frustrations out against the officials.  But the number of free throws we shot overshadows that we played a strong game offensively, defensively, and on the boards.  It was a good tune up for the championship battle with Duke,” said Coach Fred Aura.

Championship:

#1 seed Boston College-87, #2 seed Duke-85 (OT). The ACC championship game pitted #1 ranked Duke (29-5, 17-3) against #3 ranked Boston College (28-5, 17-3).  Duke entered the game with a 14-game win streak including a win over BC.  The Eagles had beaten the Blue Devils earlier in the season, so this constituted the rubber game between the two teams. 

Duke simply overwhelmed Boston College throughout the entire first half.  The Blue Devils hit 56% of their FG’s and 44% of their 3’s, outrebounded the Eagles 17-10, and defensively held BC’s shooting to 38%, blocked 5 shots, and forced 15 turnovers (many of which they turned into driving layups).  The result was Boston College finding themselves in a 49-26 hole at the half.

Coach Aura lit a fire under the Eagles during halftime.  Their defense stiffened and they began hitting shots.  With 10-1/2 minutes to go they had reduced Duke’s lead to 60-52.  Two minutes later the gap was down to 62-58.  Then with 37 seconds on the clock, BC had narrowed the gap to 79-76, but the Blue Devils were in possession of the ball.  SG Corey Graham intercepted a pass and fired it upcourt to SF Michael Millford for a driving layup that reduced the lead to a single point.  BC fouled and Duke’s PF Dave Chavis sunk both free throws.  After a time out with 4 seconds on the clock, the Eagles inbounded the ball to PG Leonard Meliet who lofted up a prayer from midcourt at the buzzer…the prayer was answered to tie the game at 81-81, capping a monumental comeback and sending the game to overtime.

The OT was a nail-biter.  Defense predominated.  BC gained a 2 point lead twice but both times Duke was able to tie the game…the last tie when the Blue Devils hit a jumper with 13 seconds to go.  With 5 seconds to go, Boston College called a time out and tried to isolate Meliet.  But Meliet was double teamed near the right corner.  He could only force up a 15 baseline jumper which settled cleanly through the silks with just 1 second left.  Duke called a time out and inbounded the ball but couldn’t get off a shot.  Boston College capped a comeback of historic proportions to be crowned the ACC Champion.

Coach Fred Aura said, “After a disastrous first half, I really just stressed two things in the locker room…DEFENSE…and YOU CAN DO IT.  And the guys responded amazingly well.  We took a big gamble by employing such a tight defense that could easily have resulted in several of our players fouling out.  Our guys were in their faces the entire half but avoided making too many fouls.  Again we let Leonard Meliet take the shots to tie the game and send it to OT and then to take us home for the win in OT.  He went 2 for 2 and you just can’t ask more from a guy than that.”

Boston College’s starters scored 79 of the team’s 87 points…21 for SG Corey Graham, 19 by C Courtland Reese, 16 from PG Leonard Meliet, 14 by PF Danny Toliver, and 9 for SF Michael Millford.  SG Jerry Henry was high point man for Duke with 18 points.

[PointGuard 70]

2^nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans (recruiting)

After our win over Florida State, we received a call from the recruit we had offered the scholarship that Leonard Meliet will be releasing by going to the pros.  C Tim Cotton, a 6’10” senior from Asbury Park, NJ, announced he will be joining us next year.  We’d been in frequent contact with him even when we didn’t think we’d have a scholarship to offer.  Tim is averaging 15.9 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 3.0 apg, 3.1 bpg, and 2.0 apg.  He’s an outstanding inside shooter and a great rebounder.  He plays very strong defense and is a very good shot blocker.  He has good passing skills.  His coach says he’s a hard worker who doesn’t miss practices and doesn’t cause problems.  He’s a solid 4-star recruit who is ranked as the 67^th best recruit in the nation.  We expect he will come in ready to contribute (and be a hedge in the event Mike Braxton transfers).  By the time he’s a sophomore, Tim will be a solid replacement for Courtland Reese.

Together with 5-star PG Bobby Grannum and 4-star SF Maynard Gardner, Tim rounds out our recruiting for this year.  I’m ecstatic.