Boston College outlasts Hoosiers 88-76

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — After six games and six victories, the IU men’s basketball team built a reputation as a second-half team.

For 16 minutes against Boston College, the reputation seemed to stick.

The Hoosiers clawed their way back from a 14-point first-half deficit to trim the Eagles’ lead to as little as one point with just 5:44 to go in regulation, but the host team responded with vigor.

Boston College scored 17 points in the final four minutes to hand IU its first loss in its first road game of the year, 88-76 on Wednesday at Conte Forum.

“(Assistant coach) Tim Buckley said it best. When you’re playing against veteran teams, and you make mistakes. They make you pay,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “It could have been the most minor of a mistake, but they made us pay tonight, especially as we made our comeback.”

After shooting just 39 percent in the first half, IU exploded out of the locker room with a 63 percent clip in the second. Sophomore forward Christian Watford led the charge, scoring 12 of his team-high 23 points in the second half.

But at the fateful 5:44 mark in the second half, the Hoosiers went cold at the wrong time.

While IU went on to miss two of its next three jump shots and commit a turnover, Boston College knocked down three 3-pointers, and a pair of layups from guard Reggie Jackson pushed the Eagles’ lead to an insurmountable 13 points with two minutes remaining.

The Boston College surge came after IU had successfully implemented a zone defense that slowed down the hot-shooting Eagles. But during the late surge, Crean said the biggest daggers could have been avoided.

“They just made some plays. They really did. A couple times, they made some tough plays,” he said. “But the ones that are glaring are where we made just a simple mistake of getting out of our discipline of where we wanted to be in the zone.”

Junior guard Verdell Jones, who was third on the team with 11 points, said the team simply took too many chances trying to jump the passing lanes defensively when the game was on the line.

“I think we didn’t stay solid and tried to gamble too much,” Jones said. “The reason the game got closer was because we stayed solid, and we didn’t gamble.”

While the offense lifted the Hoosiers, the defense initially complemented with stops. But with missed shots came 14 offensive rebounds and 21 second-chance points for
the Eagles.

“We just need to be more physical,” Crean said about limiting second opportunities. “We need to be a better block-out team. We’re getting what is very important to be a good rebounding team, which is getting five guys in the paint. But then you’ve got to hit somebody.”

Crean said guarding the dribble and showing physicality on the glass were the two areas IU faltered with most, and he estimated the Hoosiers lost out on 90 percent of the 50-50 balls throughout the game.

Jackson, who led all scorers with 27 points including 16 in the second half, created the most headaches with his dribble-drive scoring ability, and Crean had high praise for the junior after the game.

“That’s an NBA guard from what I saw tonight,” he said. “There is no question. I had a strong appreciation for him going into the game, but even a greater one now leaving
the game.