Boston College Athletics
Men's Hoops Faces New Mexico In Puerto Rico
November 19, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Game Notes
Puerto Rico Tip-Off Website | Tournament Bracket
Listen Live | Gametracker
EAGLES OPEN PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF WITH NEW MEXICO
• Boston College opens the Puerto Rico Tip-Off by taking on New Mexico on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
• The only other time the two programs met was in the 76 Classic in Anaheim, CA in 2011. The Lobos won that contest, 75-57.
• The Eagles began the season by starting 1-1 over the opening weekend. They beat New Hampshire before falling to Massachusetts on Sunday.
• New Mexico won both of its games last weekend over Idaho State and Cal State Fullerton.
• BC will face either George Mason or West Virginia in the second round on Friday.
UMASS HIGHLIGHTS
• Boston College held a 32-24 halftime lead over Massachusetts on Sunday at TD Garden, but the Minutemen stormed back in the second half to win, 71-62.
• BC held the Minutemen to just 4-for-15 shooting in the first half - a .267 clip.
• Junior Olivier Hanlan led Boston College with 18 points. He also had four rebounds and two steals.
• Graduate student Aaron Brown was the other player in double figures with 12 points. He led the Eagles with three assists.
• Junior Dennis Clifford had six points and seven rebounds despite playing just 14 minutes due to foul trouble.
• Senior Patrick Heckmann led BC with eight rebounds while also scoring eight points.
HANLAN NAMED TO WOODEN, COUSY AND OLSON AWARD WATCH LISTS
• Junior Olivier Hanlan has been named to the watch list for three awards: the 2015 John R. Wooden Award Presented by Wendy's, the 2015 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award and the 2015 Lute Olson Award.
• The Wooden Award National Advisory Board will select 25 players for the midseason list in early January. The leading candidates will be further pared to 20 in early February. Fifteen top players will be placed on the ballot and submitted to voters prior to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Cousy Award watch list will be narrowed down to a final 20 in early February, then to a final five by early March. A premier Selection Committee has been appointed by the Hall of Fame to review the candidates in contention for the nation's top collegiate point guard award.
• The Lute Olson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I player who has played at least two seasons with his respective team.
• Hanlan is the leading returning point scorer (18.5) in the ACC from last season. He was an All-ACC Third Team selection a year ago after ranking third in the conference in points, fourth in minutes (36.2), sixth in free throw percentage (.811) and seventh in field goal percentage (.447). Hanlan was also the 29th player in ACC history to reach 1,000 points as a sophomore.
A WINNING MENTALITY
• Head Coach Jim Christian brought in a pair of graduate student transfers this season and they have already had successful careers.
• Aaron Brown transferred to BC after spending one year at Southern MIss. He played his first two collegiate seasons at Temple.
• Dimitri Batten played three seasons at Old Dominion before coming to The Heights.
• Temple and Southern Miss combined for a 79-23 record when Brown was on the roster. He played in two NCAA Tournaments with Temple. Brown played all 36 games last year for Southern Miss and made 30 starts. The Golden Eagles advanced to the NIT last year.
• Batten won 45 games at Old Dominion and played in a pair of postseasons. He appeared in 81 career games there and made 35 starts last season.
