Eagles Complete Winless Conference Regular Season

By Anthony Iati 

On Saturday afternoon, Boston College men’s basketball (7-24, 0-18 ACC) fell to the Clemson Tigers (17-13, 10-8 ACC), 66-50, to complete a season in which BC failed to win an Atlantic Coast Conference game. The Eagles’ loss on Senior Day means BC is the first major program since 1977 to lose all of its football and men’s basketball conference games. 

Boston College struggled mightily in each aspect of shooting the basketball. The Eagles shot 36% from the field, 19% from 3-point range, and 55% from the free-throw line. Clemson, meanwhile, capitalized with hot streaks, finishing 48% from the field.

Freshman guards Matt Milon (flu) and Sammy Barnes-Thompkins (concussion) sat out on Saturday with recent ailments. Unfortunately, the Eagles were unable to get their full complement of freshmen in the lineup for a consecutive game after Jerome Robinson and AJ Turner rejoined the team in Wednesday’s loss at NC State. 

Focusing on the seniors, guard Eli Carter (6 points on 2-11 shooting) had another rough outing against Clemson, coming up unusually short on several missed shots. Center Dennis Clifford, who really battled all year, recorded a double-double in his final home game (14 points and 11 rebounds). And Steve Perpiglia, the walk-on from Pennsylvania who earned a scholarship for his final semester in Maroon and Gold, received his first career start and played a career-high 7 minutes. Perpiglia did not score, but pulled down an offensive rebound and two assists.  Jaron Blossomgame led the Tigers with an efficient 16-and-6 performance.

Obviously, BC did not play anyway near their best game, but they had windows of opportunity to climb back into the game with a run. It never came. Questionable shot selection and an inability to keep Clemson off the glass at times really hurt the Eagles. 

Boston College will be the #14 seed in the ACC Tournament. The Eagles will open play on Tuesday afternoon in the second game of the doubleheader at Verizon Center in Washington, DC, against either Georgia Tech or Florida State, pending outcomes of other ACC games. That game will follow #13 Wake Forest vs. #12 NC State. Louisville will be ineligible for postseason play due to a self-imposed ban. 

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