Eagles Fall to the Bottom of the ACC
By Niraj Patel
The losing streak continues. The last-place Pittsburgh Panthers (now 2-9 ACC) came into Conte Forum riding an eight-game losing streak to take on a Boston College Eagles team that had lost seven straight as well. In what seemed like it would be a competitive, high scoring affair, the Eagles only seemed to compete for the beginning of the first half. The remainder of the game saw Pittsburgh, led by Michael Young, take down a lackluster BC squad. Jerome Robinson led the way for the Eagles with 22 points, but with very little support, BC allowed the Panthers to get their second ACC victory, 83-72.
Bucking the usual trend of starting off slow, Boston College came out to a fast start, but as quickly as they began the game, they seemed to fade even faster. The Panthers entered the game boasting the ACC’s top two leading scorers, Jamel Artis and Michael Young. The first few minutes made it seem that the Eagles would be on their way to their third ACC win. About 19 seconds into the game, Jamel Artis drove to the basket and came down awkwardly on his ankle, hobbling off the court in clear pain. BC immediately took advantage, as Mo Jeffers took advantage of several mismatches and scored at will. The Eagles went on a 12-2 run to take a six point lead after about 10 minutes of play and held a single digit lead through much of the first half, but the offense quickly became stagnant.
It took some time for Pittsburgh to pull together following the loss of Artis, but the end of the first half went in their favor. Pittsburgh began to apply full court pressure on Boston College and it clearly disrupted their rhythm. The end of the first half saw Pittsburgh score eight unanswered points to take the lead, but the Eagles tied the ball game up at 31 apiece by the end of the half. Panthers backup point guard Justice Kithcart was the story of the first half, connecting on a few three pointers and providing good pressure, despite being taken advantage of by the taller Robinson in the first half. Boston College got into foul trouble late in the half, as per usual. Ky Bowman ended up with 3 fouls in the first half, making it very difficult for the Eagles to find another scorer along with Robinson and Jeffers.
The second half began much like the first half ended. The Panthers got off to a fast start, and the Eagles were unable to adjust. After playing only a series midway through the first, Jamel Artis, returned to start the second half moving much better, but did not need to do much the rest of the game. Michael Young absolutely dominated the second half, who showed just why he was the ACC’s second leading scorer. They extended their run to 32-11 to take a 54-40 lead with 12 minutes left. The Eagles only scored 11 points in about 10 minutes of action.
The Eagles had no answer for Young, as Jeffers got into foul trouble very quickly into the second half. Young, the story of the second half, was able to score inside and out, hitting multiple threes and several jump shots to go along with dominance in the paint. Robinson picked up his play in the second half, but he seemed to be the only Eagle to do so. He was very aggressive driving to the basket and ended 8-17 shooting, and had some clever passing whenever he drove. The Eagles were simply unable to connect on many of those easy buckets. BC couldn’t contain Pittsburgh constantly switching. The Panthers were easily able to penetrate down the middle, and got to the foul line at will.
Getting to the free throw line, let alone making the free throws, was a huge problem for the Eagles. They ended the first half 1-4 from the line, and ended the game 8-14. Meanwhile the Panthers finished 24-29 from the line. BC simply lacked energy through much of the game, apart from the opening minutes. Jordan Chatman continues to start in place of AJ Turner but for the second straight game was unable to put up points. While shooting well, he passed up or was unable to get as many shots as fans may have hoped. Pittsburgh coach Kevin Smallings noted after the game that their ability to keep Chatman out of rhythm was huge to go along with Bowman’s early foul trouble. Turner continues his scoring funk, as Coach Christian put it, and the Eagles just cannot seem to find the scorers to go alongside Robinson and Bowman. The problem on this night, however, was stoping the Pitt offense. Along with Young, Sheldon Jeter added 17 points and Chris Jones put up 14 more to help the Pittsburgh offense when absent the firepower of Jamel Artis.
Down the stretch, BC showed very little effort. Every now and then they made a timely shot to keep themselves in it, but they were unable to get anything going consistently, and had absolutely no answer for Young. Boston College now goes on the road to face Georgia Tech on Saturday in the hopes of ending this eight-game losing streak.