Notebook: Back at Home, Eagles’ Offense Resurfaced
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Publisher
Boston College men’s basketball hit the road last week for two games in North Carolina. The Eagles registered their worst shooting performance all-time versus an ACC opponent in a 30-point loss at Wake Forest and then fell victim to UNC while the Tar Heels won their first game ever while shooting under 30% from the field.
It didn’t matter how great BC played defensively. Without shot making, the Eagles stood no chance, especially against programs in the top half of the ACC table.
BC—a team that, until earlier this season, went 707 days without a true road win—has struggled to shoot in opponents’ arenas throughout the 2021-22 campaign. At home and in neutral site games, however, the Eagles have posted a 45.2% clip.
That’s 9.9 percentage points higher than BC’s shooting percentage in true road games. The phenomenon was at play again Sunday at Conte Forum, where the Eagles hit 44.8% of field goal attempts, including seven 3-pointers, in a 69-56 victory over Pittsburgh.
Here’s more from BC’s bounce-back win against the Panthers.
DeMarr Langford Jr. is growing offensively
The sophomore guard’s confidence is starting to build. He is less hesitant to fire from long range. It’s a part of his game that was missing during non-conference play, and it limited him at the beginning of this year’s ACC slate. Langford attempted three 3-pointers in 10 non-conference games. He’s launched 12 triples in 10 league contests. Of those 12, he’s connected on three, including one Sunday against Pitt. It was part of a seven-point surge in the first half. Langford explained postgame that, by taking 3-pointers, he can help BC space the floor.“It’s usually a drive-and-kick situation as well,” Langford said. “So if they drive and kick, and I try and drive right on top of Makai [Ashton-Langford] or Jay Z (Jaeden Zackery) or Brevin [Galloway], it causes havoc, and it’s tough to score. It just takes a lot of stress off my teammates.”
Langford also mentioned that BC assistant coach Chris Markwood has been advising the 6-foot-5 Worcester native to use his size and speed when up against a smaller guard. That showed Sunday, and Langford finished with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting. It was his first time reaching double figures since the Eagles’ loss to Albany on Dec. 13.
BC successfully took Pitt forward John Hugley out of the game
The Eagles did it again. Just as they neutralized North Carolina forward Armando Bacot—who entered last week’s game leading the ACC in field goal percentage—they limited Pitt forward John Hugley—who pummeled BC with a 32-and-13 double-double earlier in January—to just nine points and five boards. The Eagles pushed Hugley out of the paint and forced him to settle for outside shots. The 6-foot-9, 280-pound sophomore ended up shooting 3-of-10 and just 3-of-7 from the charity stripe. That didn’t bode well for a Panthers team that came in scoring 64% of its points in the paint and at the line.“I thought we played about 35-36 minutes of really hardcore defense where guys were trying to contest shots and trying to box out, fighting for loose balls,” head coach Earl Grant said. “I thought we did a really good job on our post defensive package.”
Hugley also didn’t get BC’s frontcourt into foul trouble like he did in the teams’ first meeting, when Eagles centers James Karnik and Quinten Post both fouled out. In fact, Post enjoyed a 11-and-10 double-double, even knocking down a 3-pointer. As has often been the case this season, though, when Post has been on, Karnik (0 points, 12 minutes) has been off—and vice versa.
Ashton-Langford still wasn't pain-free, but he played like he was
The fiery guard told reporters after the game that he felt 85-90% in the win over Pitt, close to a week after taking a hard fall while diving for a loose ball late in the second half at Wake Forest. Ashton-Langford said he was still dealing with some upper back/neck soreness. He didn’t let it affect him against the Panthers, though. Following his worst game of league play this season, Ashton-Langford erupted for 21 points, 14 of which came in the second half.Ashton-Langford made 5-of-6 shots in the final frame, including a pair of 3-pointers as well as a spinning, long 2-pointer that beat the shot clock. He has now eclipsed the 20-point mark three times in his last eight games. Before this season, Ashton-Langford had scored 20-plus points once in his collegiate career.
The Eagles showcased fluid ball movement
Grant’s tagline is “Gritty not Pretty,” but there were times Sunday where BC’s offense was beautiful. And that has been far from the case for much of this season. The Eagles are increasingly demonstrating the ability to reach another gear in transition, particularly off turnovers. It’s not their game, but they can run, too. BC scored 19 points off 13 Panthers turnovers and rounded out the day with 15 points on the break. It helped that the Eagles registered four blocks and seven steals.But even in the halfcourt set, BC was methodical. The Eagles worked the ball around the perimeter to find open shots and attacked Pitt’s 3-2 zone in the second half. BC logged 13 assists—one more than it had in the previous two games combined.
Gianni Thompson made an immediate impact
BC was down, 13-5, at the first media timeout. Grant inserted freshman forward Gianni Thompson, who—along with classmate Kanye Jones—has been carving out a role for himself in ACC play. Within 30 seconds of checking in, Thompson drilled a jumper. It was the start of an 11-2 Eagles run. Thompson wound up playing a season-high 16 minutes. He made 2-of-3 shots for six points and recorded three rebounds while committing just one turnover.“His development has been crazy,” Ashton-Langford said of Thompson. “From the moment he stepped on campus to now. It’s great seeing the young guys because I was a young guy as well four years ago.”
Jones was 0-of-3 from the floor, but he also chipped in eight minutes. Grant said he has intentionally tried to work in his bench players to help them develop. As far as Sunday was concerned, too, it allowed him to rest his starters a bit with a road game on tap for Tuesday.
“I just feel like our bench—I've been playing guys too many minutes—and so I just felt like it was important to try to develop our bench as much as I can and let the young guys play,” Grant said. “Try to let ’em play through a few mistakes, try to teach them as they go.”
