Seven Thoughts From BC’s Win Over Fairfield
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Publisher
For the third straight game, Boston College held its opponent to under 65 points, and, for the third straight game, the Eagles emerged victorious.
Now 3-0 under head coach Earl Grant, a new-look and defensive-minded BC is about to face stiffer competition with the Sunshine Slam on tap.
But first, let’s review the Eagles 72-64 win over Fairfield. Here are seven takeaways:
DeMarr Langford Jr. is on his way to stardom: The former four-star recruit from Brewster Academy has already taken a noticeable step in year two. He started the year 13-of-15 from the field and piled up a career-high 20 points Friday night against Holy Cross. Two days later, he chipped in 16 on 5-of-11 shooting. What’s most impressive, however, is how Langford scores.
He can do it at all three levels. At 6-foot-5, he has great size at the guard position, so he’s not afraid to take the ball to the hole, especially on the break. Of course, his highlight-reel play Sunday was a two-handed flush on an alley-oop pass from Jaeden Zackery. Langford was running in transition and snuck behind the Stags’ defense before finishing over a fouling Zach Crisler (6-foot-9). Langford hung on the rim for a bit prior to his emphatic dismount.
Early in the game, he dialed up a stepback as well as a fadeaway jumper. And then he practically put Fairfield away with a 3-pointer from the wing, which was a byproduct of a beautiful baseline pass from his older brother, Makai Ashton-Langford.
Makai Ashton-Langford’s outside shot has leveled up: Speaking of Ashton-Langford, he’s been having a great start to the 2021-22 campaign, too. The graduate guard, who is playing off the ball more this year—with freshman Jaeden Zackery starting at point—is still creating for others. He’s had four assists in each of the last two games. Ashton-Langford was also the Eagles’ leading scorer Sunday. One-upping his younger brother, the veteran poured in 17 points. Most notably, he accounted for half of BC’s six 3-pointers, and they all came in the first half. The first one was from well beyond NBA range and lifted the Eagles to an 11-5 lead. The second was a smooth catch-and-shoot jumper from the corner.
Ashton-Langford shot just 23.5% from downtown last year. So far, he’s 5-of-8 from deep this season.
BC has to improve its free throw shooting: Grant emphasizes getting to the free throw line in practice. He wants his players to embrace physicality in the lane, and that much is evident given that the Eagles are averaging 24 attempts from the stripe per game. Converting those trips into points hasn’t always been as successful. The Eagles are shooting a mere 63.9% from the line this season, which is 259th in the country, according to KenPom. They were 16-of-27 Sunday. BC’s guards had a tough time making the most of their opportunities. The Langford brothers missed a combined seven free throws, and Zackery was just 1-of-4.
Jaeden Zackery’s toughness in the lane was on full display: If Zackery had just made all of his free throws, he would have finished 16 points, tied with Langford for the second most on the team during Sunday’s win. After getting into foul trouble in the season opener against Dartmouth, Zackery has bounced back with two impressive performances. It makes sense why Grant wanted the freshman from Salem, Wisconsin, to start the year at point guard.
He’s extremely active. The play from Sunday that comes to mind is when he followed an Ashton-Langford miss in the first half and, without hesitation, dished a pass to Drexel transfer TJ Bickerstaff, recording an offensive rebound and an assist on the scoring play. Zackery was key in jumpstarting the Eagles’ 10-3 run at the beginning of the second period. He scored or assisted on seven of those points, at one point flashing a hesitation move and showing how quickly he can change speeds and flip on the accelerator before skirting to the cup. He had 13 points, six assists and only one turnover.
Turnovers were a problem for the Eagles: Grant says that he wants BC to keep its turnover total under 12 every game. The Eagles failed to do that Sunday against Fairfield. They had 15, including nine in the second half, which resulted in nine points for the Stags. Similar to BC’s free throw struggles, turnovers will bite the Eagles in the butt come ACC play. Quinten Post was the biggest culprit. The 7-foot Mississippi State transfer had four turnovers. It was a rough day for Post, who fouled out in just 24 minutes. Langford and Bickerstaff also both coughed up the ball three times.
BC showed some vulnerability when defending the 3-point line: The first two games of non-conference play, the Eagles held Dartmouth and Holy Cross under 25% from beyond the arc. BC clamped down, especially in the season opener when it limited Dartmouth to 6-of-29 shooting from distance. To put that in perspective, the Big Green just went 16-of-38 from 3-point land in an upset win over Georgetown this weekend. But, on Sunday, the Eagles allowed Fairfield to convert 8-of-21 triples. Graduate guard Jesus Cruz made three of them, often keeping the Stags in the game just when it looked like BC was going to pull away. The Eagles weren’t always there to close out. For instance, late in the second half, Cruz launched a 3-pointer well before Bickerstaff could get there in BC’s zone defense.
Active hands lead to steals: BC logged nine or more steals just twice in its first nine games last year. This Eagles team has already matched that mark in two of their first three games. BC followed up a 12-steal performance versus Holy Cross with more thievery against Fairfield. The Eagles notched nine steals, and Zackery—who finished plus-eight—led the way with three.
