Bowman, BC Hold Off Louisville with Late Surge
By Nic Ferreira
Boston College may have come into last night’s contest 4-10 in ACC play, but that did not stop the Eagles from putting on an impressive defensive showing, as they held off a struggling Louisville team and notched a 66-59 win in a tight contest at Conte Forum. It was a close game wire-to-wire that featured many lead changes and was tied deep into the second half, though the Eagles were finally able to pull away for good when Ky Bowman nailed a three pointer near the two-minute mark to break a 53-53 tie. After another quick score, the Eagles took a five-point lead and never looked back.
Bowman led the Eagles with 25 points in the limited offensive showing, while Nik Popovic was the only other Eagle to notch double digit points, finishing with 16. The game was largely a defensive contest, with both teams fighting through shooting struggles throughout the game. BC’s defense was on display, forcing 14 Louisville turnovers while only committing four themselves. Louisville struggled to get anything going offensively until right before the half, when they went on a 7-0 run and, despite their struggles, managed to grab a one-point lead heading into the locker room. Outside of that spurt, the Cardinals offense was plagued early by two shot clock violations, three charges, and generally struggling to get open looks.
Had points not been so hard to come by, Louisville could have found themselves in a much deeper hole early on, but both teams shot less than 30 percent from the field in the first half, allowing Louisville to stay in the game despite eight turnovers to BC’s three. In the end, the turnovers and missed shots came back to haunt Louisville, as they committed six more turnovers in the second half to BC’s one. Offensively, Louisville’s shooting luck didn’t improve much in the second half, as the Cardinals shot 33 percent from the field and 21 percent from three-point range for the game.
For the Cardinals, Steven Enoch led the way with 22 points, and Jordan Nwora notched a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. The Cardinals came in looking to get back to their winning ways after losses to Syracuse and Virginia, but were unable to get any momentum for the majority of the game. While Louisville’s postseason aspirations are still intact, the Cardinals will have to turn things around if they want momentum for a deep playoff run as the calendar turns to March.
Up Next
Louisville, after dropping out of the top 25, has now lost three and a row and five out of their last six contests. The Cardinals will try to right the ship at home against Notre Dame on Sunday. BC, notching their fifth ACC win of the season, will look to keep their momentum going as the Eagles head to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Sunday.