Eagles Knock Off Lame Tar Heels

Raji goes strong to the hole. He dropped 16 against the Tar Heels in Saturday’s win.

For the second year in a row, the Boston College Eagles have knocked off the North Carolina Tar Heels. While last year’s victory may have been more meaningful and just a bit more impressive, it’s always nice to have that victory on your résumé. And while this year’s defeat of UNC will not propel the Eagles into March Madness, it did give them their 4th ACC win and a .500 winning percentage overall (13-13).

Things were close throughout the matinee game. There was consistent back-and-forth play in the first half. UNC once took an eight-point lead, but BC fought back and entered the locker room with a 38-37 lead.

Things clearly could have gone either way in the second half, but the maroon and gold came out strong and established the tone that would remain the rest of the game. They jumped up on the Tar Heels by ten and led 63-53 with 7:28 left.

This second-half burst should largely be credited to Reggie Jackson. The sophomore stopped his sophomoric actions and got the nod to start for the first time in ten games. He did not disappoint Al, as he dropped 17 on the Heels, 14 of which were scored in the second half. He also only turned the ball over once, which has been his main inhibitor this year.

Jackson played well all around as he pulled down seven boards and dished out seven assists. Don’t think that he pulled a Tim Duncan on us though. While he played well it was not to a point of boredom or predictability. He crossed up some Tar Heel fools and displayed a nice arsenal of offensive ability. He dropped a few Tyrese-esque tear drops in the lane and threw down a serious ally-oop via Rakim Sanders.

It wasn’t just the Reggie Jackson show, though, on Saturday. Rakim Sanders did more than throw ally-oops. The bulky junior swing man scored 14 of his own points and hauled in six boards. He was more of the first-half show. He scored ten points early on, which kept the Eagles afloat in the first half. His stroke was on as he hit a few threes. He also used his long wing span and athleticism to reign in a long miss off the iron and put it back up and in.

Corey Raji was another main contributor to the victory. The junior did what he does best by knocking down 15-17 foot jump shots. The southpaw’s seven field goals and two free throws added up to 16 points, which the Eagles needed to capture the win.

While these three were the main reason that the Eagles were victorious, one knows that basketball is a team game and is never as simple as it sounds. Big man Evan Ravenel probably had his best game of the year on Saturday. He provided eight points on the offensive side and two blocks on the defensive side. He also had a nice tip slam that caused Conte to become raucous.

Josh Southern’s struggles continued, and, as a result, he got quite comfy on the bench. With Ravenel’s success and his failures, and Cortney Dunn not doing a whole lot, it seems like Southern may get pretty close with Brady Hesslip at the end of the bench for the rest of the year. It doesn’t seem like he will be able to resurrect his play before the season runs out.

The Eagles have four games remaining in the regular season, all ACC matchups. While they could theoretically run the table and make themselves .500 for the year in the ACC, that seems like a bit of a stretch.

They could also do what NC State almost did two years ago and win the ACC tournament, which would give them an automatic spot in the NCAA tournament, even though they were atrocious in the regular season. But I wouldn’t bet the farm on that. It would be nice to see them play with a little pride and respect for themselves, as well as the school, and finish things up on a positive note, with an eye looking to next season.

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