Boston College looked to follow up their massive 89-84 upset win against former #1 Duke with a similar performance against the Columbia Lions. Columbia was 1-9 heading into the matchup. BC trailed early in the game, again relying on three pointers for much of their offense. They shot 8 for 14 in the first half, led by Jordan Chatman who shot 4-6 on threes. Against Duke, they were 11 for 16 on three pointers in the first half, and 15-26 for the game. Boston College’s defense also struggled against the speed and quickness of sophomore guard Mike Smith of Columbia. Smith had 11 points through the first 10 minutes and helped Columbia lead by 11 points at one point in the first half.
BC’s perimeter defense has been fantastic, contesting the majority of shots and making it tough for opponents to get a clean shot off. In the paint, BC’s big men weren’t helping enough when Columbia drove past the guards, giving up easy layups. While Duke scored the majority of their points in the paint against Boston College, they continued to shoot and miss 3s allowing BC to control the game. Columbia’s head coach Jim Engles clearly saw patterns in the BC defense that they exploited early on to jump to a 21-10 lead.
BC coach Jim Christian called a timeout, regrouped and BC went on a 33-14 run to close out the half, leading Columbia 43 to 35. For the second straight game, the Eagles only scored 8 points in the paint in the first half, and despite out-rebounding Columbia 16 to 12, BC failed to record a single offensive rebound.
In the second half, BC maintained their lead, and Columbia found themselves in foul trouble early, giving up 7 fouls in the first 7 minutes of the half. The Eagles looked like a different team when it came to offensive rebounding as well, grabbing 11 offensive rebounds in the second half. Mike Smith carried the Lions to the best of his ability, taking the same amount of shots as Columbia’s other four starting players (22 shots).
Boston College won 81 to 66 thanks to the offensive efforts of their strong backcourt. All five starters scored in the double digits as well.
BC wins 81 to 66 thanks to the offensive efforts of their strong backcourt.
Jerome Robinson: 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists.
Ky Bowman: 13 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists.
Jordan Chatman: 20 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists.— First and Fan (@FirstandFan1) December 13, 2017
After the game, Coach Christian responded to First and Fan regarding the team’s offensive rebounding troubles in the first half.
BC ranked 37th in the nation in offensive rebounds per game heading into tonight's matchup vs Columbia. Head coach Jim Christian responded to First and Fan postgame regarding the team's rebounding in the 1st vs 2nd half pic.twitter.com/pSs693HctB
— First and Fan (@FirstandFan1) December 13, 2017
Columbia currently extends their losing streak to 9 games, while BC extends their win streak to 3. The Eagles play Central Connecticut at home next.
