Eagles Lose in Heartbreaker at Home to Irish with 0.1 left on the clock

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — TJ Gibbs short jumper with 0.1 seconds left lifted Notre Dame to a 62-61 victory Wednesday night at Conte Forum. The last-second shot spoiled the BC Eagles attempt at a season sweep of the Irish for the first time since 1996-97.

Boston College shot 53% in the first half as the Eagles took a 41-34 lead into halftime. The Eagles used a 10-0 late in the first half to push the lead as high as 10. Derryck Thornton led the Eagles with 10 points in the opening 20 minutes while Steffon Mitchell added eight points, six rebounds and six assists in the first half.

Notre Dame trailed most of the night until Prentiss Hubb drained a three-pointer with 3:42 remaining to give the Irish their first lead since 20-18. Thornton responded with a jumper to give the Eagles a 59-58 advantage. After a runner by Jay Heath with eight seconds left gave BC a 61-60 lead, Gibbs drained a jumper with 0.1 seconds left to give the Irish the win at the buzzer.

With the win, Notre Dame improved to 18-10 overall and 9-8 in the ACC while BC dropped to 13-16 overall and 7-11 in the ACC.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

Steffon Mitchell finished with 12 points, including a career-best three 3-pointers. The junior was one assist short of a triple-double, adding 11 rebounds and nine assists on the night.
Jay Heath also added with 12 points – including the go-ahead bucket for BC with eight ticks remaining. The freshman, three rebounds, and two assists (four turnovers)
Julian Rishwain knocked down 3-of-6 from the outside, good for nine points. He also grabbed four rebounds.
Luka Kraljevic was 3-for-3 from the floor, finishing with six points and three boards.
Notre Dame led for just 4:52 on the night.
BC connected on 40.7% from the floor (24-59) – including 53.3% in the first half.
The Eagles made 9-of-30 from beyond the arc.
30 of ND’s 62 points came in the paint.

STAT OF THE GAME:

+10: For the game, BC’s reserves outscored the Irish 21-11, including a 14-2 advantage in the first half

FOR THE ANALYTICS CROWD:

Steffon Mitchell’s 27 led the Eagles on the night in efficiency.
A pair of freshmen – Julian Rishwain and Jay Heath – each logged a 10 EFF rating.
Efficiency rating is calculated using the following formula: (PTS + REB + AST + STL + BLK – Missed Shots – TO)

UP NEXT:

Boston College plays its final regular season home game on Wednesday, March 3 when it hosts Syracuse.
The Eagles and Orange tip at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
The game can also be heard live on the Boston College Learfield IMG College Sports Network with Josh Maurer and Danya Abrams on WEEI 850 AM.