BC comes up short in 77-69 loss to Louisville

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The BC Eagles have a signature win on their resume, and it was at home vs Duke. They were looking to do the sane on the road, at Louisville. Despite having four players in double-figures, they were not able to overcome turnovers and a big second-half deficit. The Eagles fell to the Cardinals 77-69, their record drops to 13-7 overall and 3-4 in conference play.

Louisville returned home after a big overtime win on the road at Notre Dame, earlier in the week. The Cardinals were hoping to take advantage of their size and depth in this one.

Turnovers played a role in the early minutes of this game, and it would be Louisville who would take better care of the rock first. With that came the game’s first run, 7-0 that gave the Cards an early 11-5 lead. The Eagles did respond quickly with a 5-0 burst that got them right back into the contest. A three-point play from Ky Bowman, 16 points on the afternoon, and a bucket from Jerome Robinson, game-high 19 forced the Cardinals to call timeout with the game at 11-10 Louisville.

The bench would become a critical part of the outcome of this contest, and the Cardinals found their bench performer in Jordon Nwora who came off the bench and gave Louisville a lift that would carry them through the first twenty minutes.

He finished the game with 15 points, 13 of them were in the first half when the home team really need it. Nwora entered the game after the Cardinal went on a scoring drought that lasted 5:30. He quickly scored eight points to help tie the game at 19 apiece. His ability to knock down three’s as well as take the ball to the basket helped to break down the zone defense BC was using to confuse Louisville.

Meanwhile, the Eagles were riding the hot shooting of Robinson and Bowman, who combined for 19 first-half points. When halftime arrived, the Cardinals led 31-29. BC stayed in this game without any points from their bench, while the Cardinals received 15 from theirs.

Bowman’s 3FG at the buzzer rimmed out and the #BCEagles trail 31-29 at the break. Jerome Robinson leads BC with 10 points. Here are the halftime stats: pic.twitter.com/En2M3LFxlB

— BC Men's Basketball (@BCMBB) January 21, 2018

At the start of the second half, the Cards went for the knock out blow. A 16-4 run gave them their biggest lead of the game 45-33 with 14 minutes left. The lead would grow to 18 with 3:47 to play. It seemed that all Louisville had to do was run the clock out and the game was theirs.

But the Eagles were not going away that quietly as a 10-0 run in a 1:24 span had the Louisville coaching staff scrambling for answers. When Jordan Chatman dropped a three from the right corner, it was now a five-point game at 67-62 with a minute to go.

Another three-ball from Chatman with 32 seconds left had Boston College within two at 71-69. The Eagles had to then started fouling, and the Cardinals did not miss at the line. Six straight makes sealed the game for the home team and improved their record to 15-4 and 5-1 in ACC play.

The Cardinals were led by Dang Adel who scored 18 all in the second half, V.J. King who gave 15, and Malik Williams had 10. Louisville shot 40% for the game, and 34% from deep. The Eagles were 35% from the field, but only 27% (8-29) from behind the arc.

Eagles Furious Finish Falls Short at Louisville in 77-69 Loss

Recap: https://t.co/JiqHRJzdcL pic.twitter.com/zxw7qOrmli

— BC Men's Basketball (@BCMBB) January 21, 2018