Boston College grinds out 63-59 win against Notre Dame
Boston College returned home from a hard road swing to a packed house with a boisterous student section and an ACC attitude.
Chas Kelley made two free throws with 7.9 second remaining to secure a thrilling 63-59 victory over Notre Dame before 6,348 on Monday night at Conte Forum.
BC improved to 11-6 and 2-3 in the ACC and will host North Carolina on Saturday. BC is 16-27 all-time against Notre Dame, but the Eagles have won five of the last six and four straight at Conte.
“Our fans were unbelievable,” said BC coach Earl Grant. “They actually made the difference, the fans made the difference. It was loud when they introduced the players and they were making a lot of noise and they were yelling.
“I really appreciate them showing up and they made the difference tonight.”
BC shot 37.5% from the floor and was outrebounded 44-28, but the Eagles made up for it by forcing 14 turnovers that were converted into 22 points.
Guard Jaeden Zackery shot 8-of-10 from the floor and scored a game-high 20 points. Power forward Quinten Post, who sat out last Saturday’s loss at No. 21 Clemson with a stomach flu, netted 17 points that included two crucial three-point shots in the second half.
Down seven at the intermission, BC opened the second half with a 10-4 run to cut the lead to 40-39 into the first media timeout. BC took its first lead since 8:30 of the first half when Zachery hit a jumper and Post made two from the line that made 45-42 with 12:40 on the clock.
BC had a chance to extend the run kept missing open shots and lost the lead on consecutive corner treys by J.R. Konieczny that made it 48-47 with 8:40 to play.
ND’s Tae Davis made three free throws and a put back to up the lead 53-49. Post countered with a pair of 3-balls and a floater in the paint to put BC ahead 57-55 with 3:39 to play. Post put BC up 60-57 with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 47 seconds to play.
“Notre Dame was physical and that is what we saw on film,” said Grant. “We had certain keys we needed live by to win the game and we also need to have some offensive maturity.”
BC fell into a predictable pattern of poor shot selection and missed opportunities around the rim in the opening minutes, but the Irish experienced similar problems in repeated fruitless trips up the floor. The lone exception was ND freshman guard Josh Burton, who drained a pair of pull up jumpers and a 3-ball from off the key to give the Irish a 9-7 lead into the first media timeout.
Guard Mason Madsen came off the bench for Claudell Harris and promptly buried a pair of long balls to give BC a 13-10 lead with 11:53. Answered back with treys from the top of the key by Braeden Shrewsberry and Matt Zona to take a 16-13 lead into the second media timeout.
ND created separation with eight unanswered points to take a 24-17 lead with 6:38 to play. ND went up 31-19 on a trifecta by freshman forward Carey Booth, compelling Grant to finally call for a timeout that was two baskets too late.
Zackery provided BC a brief reprieve with a fallaway jumper and a three-point play, but the Irish got it back to double digits (35-24) on Burton’s jumper with a minute to play. Madsen beat the buzzer with a 3-point shot to cut ND’s lead to 36-29 at the break.