Brooklyn, NY — 13th seeded Boston College men’s basketball team gave up a late buzzer-beater by Miami’s Jordan Miller to lose 71-69 in overtime in the quarterfinals of the ACC men’s basketball tournament.
The Eagles had the ball with 33.7 seconds left in the game and took time off the clock before Makai Ashton-Langford drove into the paint, throwing up a jumper that missed with 5 seconds left – giving Miami’s Charlie Moore just enough time to launch the ball down the court to the wide-open, Miller to win the game. The Hurricanes, who beat BC by 11 points eight days earlier, escaped to earn a semifinal matchup with top seed and seventh-ranked Duke on Friday.
With the loss, the Eagles’ season comes to a end with a 13-20 record for the year. The tournament run was an impressive one, and will gain momentum to Earl Grant’s efforts to elevate his program next season.
Quinten Post was got off super hot, hitting back-to-back treys in the first two possessions of the game. He had 14 points total on the day to lead the Eagles. DeMarr Langford had a strong second half after a quiet first half, ending with 10 points and 7 boards.
The Hurricanes led 34-32 at the break. Consecutive baskets by Karnik and a 3-pointer by Zackery gave BC a six-point lead early in the second half. The Eagles held on to that lead for nine minutes until three turnovers led to six points in a 9-0 Miami run and a five-point edge with four minutes left to go. Zackery’s three with 22 seconds left knotted it at 65.
“I told the players, ‘This is the most fun time of the year. Everybody looks forward to March Madness. For us, the ACC Tournament is the beginning of that,’” Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “Hitting a game-winning shot in overtime, that is something you will remember the rest of your life.”
Both teams made over half their field goals in the first half, with the Hurricanes going 15-of-26 (57.7 percent) and BC shooting 14-of-27 (51.9 percent). Neither side attempted a free throw from the charity stripe line.
With BC trailing 69-67, Jaeden Zackery tied it up and got to the charity stripe line with a chance to give BC the lead with an and-one, but missed the free throw. On the next possession, BC turned the ball over, and then, in the final possession of the contest, they had the heart breaking sequence that lost them the game.
The only thing BC needed was just a little bit more execution in the final possessions, particularly in overtime.
Kameron McGusty scored 16 points, Moore had 15 points and six assists, Isaiah Wong chipped in 15 points and six assists and Miller 13 points for Miami (23-9), which had a double bye into the semifinals. Waardenburg grabbed a game-high nine boards to go along with his nine points.
Miami outscored BC 18-9 off turnovers. Boston College made only 5 of 11 free throws.
The Eagles made just three of their final 12 long-range shots after making each of their first three to begin the afternoon and that was the difference of the game.
“I think you have to give a lot of credit to Boston College’s coaching staff and players in terms of making adjustments from when we played them last week to this week,” Larrañaga said. “We had it in our game plan that they might show the zone, but what they did with the zone is what made it so impactful. They kept switching from man to zone back to man to zone. And we didn’t get in a good rhythm. That gave them a lead and we had to battle back, but then the credit goes to our players for just stepping up and making plays. It’s incredible the way they have done that throughout the season.”
