SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

[PointGuard]

Nov. 22, 2029: Oklahoma Sooners (2-0) vs Boston College Eagles (2-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA

Donnie Morretti, fan

Oklahoma is a strong team. They match up well with the Eagles. I attended BC’s first two games this season. While many wanted to see the Eagles blow those teams out of the water, I was happy that the games were close. I like the excitement generated by tight games.

The teams traded baskets the first 8 minutes of the game, but led by PG Bobby Grannum and SF Glen Robinson, Boston College went on an 11-0 run to take a 28-18 lead with 8-1/2 minutes remaining in the half. From there the Eagles stretched their lead to 49-34 at the end of the half. Both teams shot well, 59% by BC and 54% by Oklahoma, but the Sooners had 12 turnovers. PG Bobby Grannum hit for 13 first half points.

Just 2-1/2 minutes into the 2nd half, BC’s lead had grown to 20 points. The Eagles’ entire bench got extensive playing time as Boston College went onto whip the Sooners 86-70

Top scorers for the Eagles were: PG Bobby Grannum with 25 points, C Courtland Reese with 11, and SG Corey Graham with 10.

[PointGuard]

Nov. 25, 2029: UCLA Bruins (0-2) vs Boston College Eagles (3-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA

2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans

UCLA was ranked in the preseason polls and also picked to finish 2nd in the Pac-12 standings. But then they lost their opener in the NIT Season Tip-Off to Northern Iowa and a home game against UC-Irvine. They’ve averaged scoring just 60 ppg in those two contests. C Jason Lavin is their best player and was the Pac-12’s Freshman Player of the Year 2 years ago and Pac-12 All-Conference 1st Team last season. He’s not a particularly prolific scorer, but is a good rebounder and is strong defensively. We’ll see how Courtland Reese does against him.

We’re starting Darius Hein again at SF as we try to determine who will win out as starter.

Rock solid defense allowed us to forge a 20-2 lead in the first 7 minutes of the game. At that point, UCLA had hit just 1 of 7 shots and made 7 turnovers. Darius Hein started out strongly, hitting both of his FG attempts. Then our offense went ice-cold and UCLA closed to within 8 points. We had a mini-rally to finish the half with a 33-20 edge. We hit just 40% of our shots, but UCLA could only manage to connect on 26% of theirs. We also out-rebounded the Bruins 19-14 and held a 13-5 turnover advantage.

We started out the 2nd half strongly to take a 22 point lead after just 3 minutes of play. Our lead expanded to 27 points and we closed out the game with a 51 clobbering of the Bruins. Our guys shot better (46% to 38%), rebounded better (36-26) and had fewer turnovers (11 by us to 21 by UCLA).

SG Corey Graham and C Courtland Reese both scored 16 points. PG Bobby Grannum had a double-double (12 points and 12 assists) and SF Darius Hein had his strongest game (10 points and 6 rebounds). A disappointment was that our reserves were on the court a total of 72 minutes but hit only 3 of 14 FGA’s and scored just 11 points (7 of those by Winston Minahan).

After the game we found out the Eagles had moved into the Top 25 in the polls…#18 in the Media Poll and #17 in the Coaches Poll. We also have the 6th best NET Ranking. Other ACC teams in the polls (Media/Coaches rankings): Duke (2/2), Florida State (4/4), Virginia (5/6), Notre Dame (6/5), Pittsburgh (10/7), North Carolina (9/11), and Miami (14/9). In all the pre-conference games the 15 ACC teams have played thus far, they’ve won 55 and lost 13 (a winning percentage of 81%).

In other ACC news: Good start by the ACC. In the first 4 pre-conference tournaments Virginia won the 2K Sports Classic, Duke was 2nd in the NIT Season Tip-Off, Florida State won the Maui Invitational, and Notre Dame won the WS Midwest Invitational.

[PointGuard]

Bobby Grannum

Just after I got to campus, this guy from the athletic department, an assistant something or other, told me something like, “Just do your best. Nobody expects you to replace Leonard Meliet.” I was thinking “what the hell does this guy know?” He then added that the main thing for me was to work myself into the team, support my teammates, get buddy-buddy with them. I responded, “Hey, what do you know about me and how I play ball? Let me tell you something. I know exactly what I can do on the court and what I bring to a team. And let me tell you, people here are likely to forget the name Leonard Meliet after seeing what I can do. And as for being part of the team…I do what I want and am friends with whom I want to be and that means I don’t have to hang with the guys. I give my all in practice and in games, but beyond that I’m my own man.”

It’s turned out I was right. Four games into my college career and people are taking notice. And they aren’t saying, “We need Leonard Meliet.” And outside of practice and the games, I’m doing my own thing, got my own friends, checking out the girls I want to check out. That’s better than hanging with the guys I spend a lot of time with for basketball. My relationship with the team? I don’t really worry about that.

Coach Fed and Coach Montgomery are good. They get their points across but don’t belabor them. They both give me space.

[PointGuard]

Omari Aura, SF for Providence

Our team is off to a good start, 4 wins and 0 losses. We’re averaging 86.7 ppg and have only given up 59.0 ppg. We’re 7th in the Media Poll and 12th in the Coaches Poll.

I’ve started all 4 games at SF. No sterling performances by me yet, but I think solid. Steady, and workmanlike. Providence recruited SG Zack Watkins, the #2 ranked recruit last season. Zack scored 42 points in our season opener and 31 points in each of the following 2 games and then another 42 points in our last game. His 36.5 ppg is far and away the best scoring average of any Division I player. He’s also averaging 8.0 rpg...not bad for a SG. I’ve never played with a guy who has so much talent.

We already had a good team, but the addition of Zack has, I believe, made us one of the best teams in college basketball. Pretty darned exciting.

Boston College (my Pop's team) and Providence (my team) now have a total of 8 wins and no losses. We take on the Eagles in 2 weeks. I like our chances.

[PointGuard]

Nov. 29, 2029: Creighton Blue Jays (2-1) vs #18 ranked Boston College Eagles (4-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA

Jason Braxton, Athletic Director

Creighton’s recent history closely parallels Boston College’s. Both went to the CIT tournament four years ago and each has been to the NCAA Tourney the past 3 years with exits at the very same point in that tournament each season. This should be a good game.

Coach Aura admitted to me that he was worried about the Blue Jays. He said to me, “Creighton’s freshman SG Idris Harris is averaging 21 ppg and senior C Barry Denis, who had hit about 60% of his FGA’s the past 2 season, is hitting an amazing 86% of his FGA’s this season. Junior PG Shaheen Jepsen has dished out 10.7 apg this season. So we are going to have to play hard and smart the entire game. Their loss in their opening game was by a single point to #8 ranked Kentucky. I hope we can energize our home crowd to make lots of noise and cheer us on.”

Led by SG Corey Graham, our team got off to a good start. We were up 9-2 with Graham contributing 5 of those points after 2-1/2 minutes of play. But PG Bobby Grannum got into early foul trouble. Creighton got right back into the game, but the refs returned the favor by calling a 2nd foul on Creighton’s SG Idris Harris. So the top scorers from both teams were sitting on the bench. Fouls continued to mount since the refs were calling tacky fouls on both teams. Courtland Reese was sent to the bench just a little later with 2 fouls and Creighton was edging ahead as they dropped in free throw after free throw. The half ended with us trailing 43-36. A portion of that was due to fouls, but poor shooting and poor ball control also contributed to the deficit. SG Corey Graham scored 11 points in the half.

We continually edged close only to see Creighton hit shots that re-established their lead. But finally with 7:48 remaining we took a 65-63 lead. A minute later had streaked ahead 61-63, having scored 13 unanswered points. The refs continued to call the game much too closely, but really worked over the Blue Jays in the 2nd half, and we capitalized at the foul line. We ended up with an 86-78 victory. A total of 48 fouls were called on the two teams.

Scoring in double figures for us were: SG Corey Graham-20, SF Darius Hein-16, PF Danny Toliver-14, PG Bobby Grannum-13 (all in the 2nd half), and SF/SG/PG Glen Robinson-11. This was Darius Hein’s second straight well-played game and another career high for him.

Danny Toliver took a hard fall late in the game. Later it was disclosed he’d suffered a mild concussion.

[PointGuard]

Dec. 6, 2029: #12 ranked Boston College Eagles (5-0) vs #17 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (6-2) at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, AR

Ethan Reilly

I’m one of the token Catholics within Arkansas. Catholics make us just a little over 3% of the state’s population. And Boston College will be the only Catholic university basketball team playing the University of Arkansas this year. So I ‘m attending the game so I can be the Eagles’ sole fan, even though I really don’t know anything much about the team. To top that off, I got transferred by my employer from the Chicago area two years ago, so I’m also a northerner in redneck country. All the people at work are University of Arkansas fans so I hear all day long about Razorbacks’ football and basketball. So…LET’S GO EAGLES! I will have to say, though, that my pay is good and the cost of living is definitely a lot lower than in Chicago so this choir boy is living well down here.

Like I said...I don’t know much about BC basketball, but the team looks darned good early. They’ve got a 23-5 lead and their center, Courtland Reese, has scored 10 points. The “Wooooo Pig Sooie!” chants that were occurring at the beginning of the game have disappeared. Reese had to sit due to foul trouble, but his replacement Tim Cotton is doing well also. Cotton scored 13 points as the Eagles pounded the Razorbacks in the first half by a score of 44-20. Great defense by Boston College kept Arkansas from hitting their shots and forced them to turn the ball over 12 times. I noticed that some of the fans are trickling out of the arena.

BC expanded their lead to 30 points early in the 2nd half. Then Arkansas scored 4 straight points and there was one fan with a feeble “Wooooo Pig Sooie”…laughable. From there the Eagles cruised to an easy 75-51 beating of the Razorbacks.

The Eagles dominated inside with their 2 centers Reese scoring 20 and Cotton adding 15. Boston College controlled the boards 42-25 and held a 40-12 edge on points in the paint and a 13-4 advantage on 2nd chance points.

[PointGuard]

Dec. 9, 2029: Missouri Tigers (3-2) vs #12 ranked Boston College Eagles (6-0) in 1st Round of the Emerald Coast Classic at Niceville, FL

1st Assistant Coach Darrell Montgomery

The Tigers have 4 of their starters averaging in double figures, but have not been shooting the lights out….only hitting 38.5% of their shots. Their defense has been good, but the level of their opponents thus far has been low.

Mizzou blocks 3 of our shots and scores 5 points on that in the first 2 minutes. But we rally to score the next 8 points as part of a 14-3 run that gives us the lead. We had trouble with their 1-3-1 zone defense which allowed the Tigers to take a 19-18 lead. But we then went on a 12-0 run. We exit the half with a 32-23 lead.

We held a reasonably solid lead through the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half, but then Missouri struck back to take a one point lead with 6 minutes to go. They went up by 3 with 4 minutes remaining. With 2-1/2 minutes left the game was tied 58-58. Glen Robinson hit a 3 with 2 minutes on the clock but we then turned the ball over on our next 2 possessions and the Tigers cut our lead to 61-60. We decided to run out the clock, but Missouri fouled intentionally. Bobby Grannum hit both ends of a 1-and-1. The Tigers missed a 3 point shot but grabbed an offensive rebound. Then Danny Toliver blocked their final attempt and we escaped with a 63-60 edging of a team we should have handled better. We shot just enough better than Missouri (39% to 34%) and held a 36-32 rebounding advantage that was just enough for us to prevail. Overall though, a weak effort on our part.

PG Bobby Grannum had 16 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, a steal and 2 blocks. SG Corey Graham scored 13 and C Courtland Reese had a double-double (11 points and 11 boards). Again our bench was unproductive, scoring just 5 points.

[PointGuard]

[b]Dec. 10, 2029: #12 ranked Boston College Eagles (7-0) vs Michigan Wolverines (5-1) in 2nd Round of the Emerald Coast Classic at Niceville, FL

2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans[/b]
'
Michigan beat Tulane 92-72 in their opening game of this tournament. The Wolverines are a good scoring team that shoots a little better than us, but we are the better rebounding team and our defense has been stronger thus far this season. We need to bounce back from the low-energy play of our last game.

Even though we were hitting a high percentage of our shots, the Wolverines simply destroyed our defense, hitting nearly all their shots. We slipped behind gradually. With 12 minutes to go in the first half, we trailed 24-16. Some sloppy play resulting in a series of turnovers definitely was adding to our woes. Michigan sliced thought both our m-2-m or 2-3 zone like a warm knife through butter…either scoring or getting fouled on every possession. We fell behind by as much as 17 points and trailed at the end of the half by a score of 49-36. Michigan hit 67% of their FG’s. Five of our players has 2 or more fouls. SG Corey Graham pumped in 16 points, but he couldn’t solely carry the team. Somehow we needed to clamp down defensively on the Wolverines in the 2nd half.

Coach Aura made some adjustments to our defensive schemes that stymied Michigan when the 2nd half began. And we hit shots that cut their lead to 52-47 just 4 minutes into the half. Even though the Wolverines began hitting some shots, 3 minutes later we’d crept to within 1 point at 59-58. Then with 12:26 on the clock, Corey Graham drilled in a 16 footer that put us ahead by a point. Courtland Reese picked up his 4th foul on Michigan’s next possession. With 10 minutes left we led 66-63. A 4th foul was called on PG Bobby Grannum with 8-1/2 minutes remaining. Coach Aura was called for a technical foul. A combination of free throws and 3’s put Michigan on top 77-68. We fought back to narrow the gap to 81-79 with 3:37 to go. Then Courtland Reese cut into the lane and hit a turn-around 10 footer that tied the game. Corey Graham was fouled and hit both free throws to put us ahead 83-81 with 2:43 left. Corey Graham then got called for his 4th foul, but Michigan failed to connect on the first of a 1-and-1. We were up by 2 and Michigan fouled…Graham knocked down both shots to make the score 87-83 with a minute to play. The Wolverines forced up a shot that was off the rim…we rebounded and were fouled. Bobby Grannum sunk both free throws. The Wolverines scored and fouled. 2 more points for Grannum. Graham fouled out. Michigan hit both foul shots and immediately fouled. Grannum hit one of two free throws putting the game out of reach. Our second half effort yielded a come-from-behind 92-87 victory sending us the championship game. We hit 60% of our shots in the 2nd half and held the Wolverines shooting to just above 40% in the final half.
S
G Corey Graham poured in 27 points plus had 2 steals and 4 blocks, PG Bobby Grannum scored 21 points, and C Courtland Reese added 10.

Our wins shot us up to #6 in the Media Poll and #7 in the Coaches Poll.

[PointGuard]

December 11, 2029: #15 ranked Oregon Ducks (7-2) vs #6 ranked Boston College Eagles (8-0) in Championship Game of the Emerald Coast Classic at Niceville, FL

Coach Fred Aura

After two straight hair breadth wins, I’m hoping our team can get a big lead and hold it. I’m not sure I can withstand another exceptionally close game. While we haven’t played particularly well in either of or games in this tournament, I’ve liked how our guys got tough when it was needed.

Oregon has scored as well as we have this season, but has held opponents to just 62 ppg. Four of their starters are averaging in double figures. The Ducks roster is loaded with talent. Just before this tournament they had a big win over Texas which was ranked 6th in the polls at that point. Oregon is a 7-1/2 point favorite to beat us. We need to play solid defense and to stay out of foul trouble.

Our guys seemed pretty tight during the pre-game warm up. But then in our huddle just before the game started, Adrian Moss did a humorous rapping psych-up routine with rags about each of us coaches that loosened up the entire team. Adrian’s a good guy with a great personality. He wants starter minutes, though. So while he has a lot of potential, he’s still developing the skills to be consistently productive. With Corey Graham and Glen Robinson playing well, I’m having a tough time giving him much playing time which I know is frustrating him.

'Well, here we go.

I’m on the refs early as they rack up fouls on our guys. SG Corey Graham is charged with 2 quick fouls so is riding the bench. Oregon is sinking free throws but we’re hitting FG’s to keep up with the Ducks. In the first 7 minutes the refs have called 3 fouls on us on Oregon’s 3-point attempts and Oregon converts 8 of those 9 shots. Calling the game so close is making a mockery of the championship game. Late in the half, I decide to try to force the Ducks’ big men to get into foul trouble and instruct my guys to continually work the ball inside to see if we either score in the paint or they foul us. It works as their starting center is called for his 3rd foul with 3:15 to go in the half. But we still trail 34-31 when the half ends even though we held Oregon’s shooting to just 31%. But they hit 15 of 17 free throws.

In the locker room I tell my guys even though the refs are whistle happy to continue to play up tight on Oregon’s players. The refs just seem to look at Corey Graham and call fouls on him. I get a technical early in the 2nd half meaning I have to be careful not to get another T and get banished from the game. Our guys are doing the best they can, but Oregon’s shooting improves in the 2nd half and they have great quickness that results in some fast break scores on our turnovers. The Ducks’ lead grows to 61-45 with 11 minutes to go. We fight hard to narrow the gap, but then our shooting goes ice cold and we end up getting thumped by a final score of 77-58. Oregon’s defense and quickness were just too much for us, showing we have a lot of work to do before conference play begins.

SG/SF Glen Robinson tops our scoring with 16 points and also hauls down 8 boards. SF Darius Hein has another strong game, hitting for 14 points and PF Danny Toliver adds 10 points. SG Corey Graham has the worst game of his collegiate career, nearly fouling out which limits him to just 16 minutes of play during which he is held scoreless. Oregon’s SG Ashante Harmon hits 9 of 13 FG’s, 4 of 8 three-pointers, and 4 for 4 at the foul like to drop 26 points on us.

[PointGuard]

ACCSports.com

The ACC dominance in basketball is again on display. The latest Media Poll has ACC teams in the 2nd (Duke), 3rd (Notre Dame), 4th (Florida State), 5th (Virginia), 6th (Boston College), and 9th (North Carolina) spots in the Top 25. Although the rankings vary slightly, all those teams are within the Top 10 in the Coaches Poll. Those six teams have a combined record of 54 wins and just 4 losses and four of the teams are in the Top 10 within the NET Rankings, an indication that their strength of schedules are robust. None of the other nine ACC teams have losing records. Those nine teams have won 50 games and lost 23.

Boston College is the #1 team in the NET Rankings listing. Coach Fred Aura said, “We definitely want a tough pre-conference record. That’s because we know that the ACC schedule will not just be demanding, but tortuous. Any ACC team can beat any other one on a given night. So preparing for the ACC grind by playing strong teams helps challenge our players and ensure that they won’t be surprised when they go up against the many great ACC teams. So we don’t schedule weak competition for pre-conference play. Oregon proved that against us in our last game and Providence will be just as tough in our next game this week. Our guys realize they need to be up for each and every opponent. We take pride in that we’ve been up at the top or very near the top of the NET Rankings the past three seasons. To be honest I’m more focused on the NET Rankings than the Polls.”