Monday, November 30
Uncasville, Conn.
6 p.m.
Boston College
vs
St. John's
Thursday* Three-Pointer: Week One
November 29, 2020 | Men's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
It's a little late after the holiday, but BC ate its fill with a split in the Empire Classic.
Jim Christian touted the depth of his Boston College basketball team during his preseason media day appearance, but an overall inability to witness practice first-hand cast healthy skepticism among college basketball experts. It wasn't necessarily meant as a knock against BC as much as it was an open-ended question with an unknown answer.
Nobody knew what to expect out of BC and the team's opening games only made it tougher to predict the first results. The COVID-19 pandemic shredded every team's non-conference schedule, but the Eagles wound up in the 2K Empire Classic at Mohegan Sun's Bubbleville as part of a star-studded field. They drew into a first round matchup with No. 3 Villanova, and not even a late switch from No. 2 Baylor to Rhode Island would prevent another tournament-caliber team from lining their powerful non-conference alignment.
Yet there Christian sat on Thanksgiving night after BC's 69-64 win over Rhode Island. His mask shielded his signature smile, but he leaned forward with confidence because the win over the Rams and the performance 24 hours earlier versus a national title contender did not shock the Eagles.
"Our performances didn't teach me anything I didn't already know," Christian said of his team's immediate growth. "It's teaching everyone else that we have great depth and chemistry. The kids love playing together and we knew it from the minute we hit campus. The new guys accepted their role, and you just don't know whose night it's going to be. Every night it could be someone different."
It wasn't so much that BC nearly upset No. 3 Villanova and defeated Rhode Island the next night as much as it was a continuation of one game into the next. The Eagles were every bit as good as the Wildcats on Wednesday night. And BC rallied past the Rams after a sluggish start on Thursday - and playing without leading scorer Jay Heath.
Guard play ruled the first game. Heath led the way, Makai Ashton-Langford made his debut, and Wynston Tabbs re-introduced himself to the college basketball world. BC's defense played a 3-2 zone and switched into man-to-man to isolate matchups and create mismatches. Steffon Mitchell did his usual yeoman's work, grabbing 12 rebounds, including 10 on the defensive end, while blocking four shots and notching two steals. It took Villanova's late-game, "we've been here before" composure to overtake the Eagles.
"These are hard games because we haven't had any exhibition games," Christian said. "We lost to a great basketball team that showed why they are who they are and why they're ranked where they're ranked. They made big plays. We had our opportunities, but there were a lot of things to build on."
Game two of the week saw a change to the starting five, as Heath was unavailable to go versus Rhode Island on Thursday night. A bigger lineup with Mitchell, CJ Felder, and freshman DeMarr Langford ruled the paint, and Wynston Tabbs and Rich Kelly displayed a full ability to earn contact and get to the line. BC shot 34 free throws and the sheer volume helped push the team past the Rams despite a dozen missed charity shots.
It delivered a split record and a third place finish in an elite tournament. BC left Mohegan Sun's first week with a win over a Rhode Island team that won 20 games last year and finished third in the Atlantic 10, a high-major basketball conference that has been on display during the opening week of the 2020-21 season.
"When we practiced and scrimmaged during preseason, we put everyone on different teams," Christian said, "and it was always a one-point game or three-point game every day. I think we have a balanced team. Again, they're not teaching me anything I didn't know, but they're taking the opportunity to teach everyone around the country what they know."
Here's what else we learned from Mohegan Sun's turkey dinner this week:
1) In the Zone...
The 3-2 zone is a great way to disrupt a half court offense built on solid outside shooters. It breaks up passing lanes and traps the ball into low percentage areas, and it specifically targets outside jump shots. It is especially effective against teams either without a big post player or without a zone defense in their arsenal.
Villanova fits that profile despite entering the season as a national championship contender. Its tallest starter was 6-7 forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, but the former McDonald's All-American got into foul trouble in the first half and wasn't seen for more than 13 minutes. Neither Brandon Slater nor Eric Dixon established any interior presence and it helped BC slash an eight-point deficit down to a tie score before halftime.
Robinson-Earl returned for the second half and hit three shots in the last ten minutes, but he helped fracture BC's zone around the four exterior shooters. Villanova doubled down on him in the post, and the bridge power forward spot played by Jermaine Samuels forced the Eagles into a man-to-man look late after the Wildcats came back from down eight.
"I didn't say anything special," Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. "I liked their approach that it's a long game, and we had to play every possession...They started figuring out the zone a bit. It's our first game, and we haven't played against zone. It was a smart move by Jim to do it, but our guys figured it out late."
The zone defense won't likely become a permanent fixture on the floor when BC faces a team like Duke or Virginia, both of which boast elite seven foot centers, but it's a smart tool to use, especially for a team built by chemistry.
"They had four shooters on the court," Christian said of the switch back to man-to-man. "They were driving some tough spots in the zone, so we gave them different shots to force someone else to beat us."
2) Keeping Tabbs
The opening tip-offs against both Villanova and Rhode Island carried emotional water weight after COVID-19 ended last year's college basketball season. The NCAA was the first domino for the new world, and bringing the sport back to national television felt cyclical. Every coach acknowledged as much and talked openly about approaching the first game with both excitement and trepidation.
It meant something altogether different for Wynston Tabbs, though, after he stepped into a starting lineup for the first time since suffering a knee injury almost two years ago. His comeback stalled twice after surgery robbed him of last season and COVID-19 forced him to adapt to a different kind of offseason rehabilitation, but he immediately and seamlessly rejoined the Eagles with 11 points against Villanova and a team-high double-double against Rhode Island.
"This is just the second game," Jim Christian said, "and consecutive nights is not an easy thing, especially for a guy like Wynston Tabbs, who we have to keep monitoring. These games come down to plays down the stretch, and we were lucky enough to get enough to beat URI."
It didn't take long for Tabbs to test his knee and display a flash of his capabilities. Just under four minutes into the second half of the Villanova game, he crossed Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to the baseline and split collapsing help for an up-and-under, reverse layup. It drew contact for a foul, but it also drew a rebel yell from Tabbs and exploded the BC bench, as everyone recognized the enormity of the moment.
Later on in the half, Tabbs crossed up another defender with a head fake, and he stepped back into a 3-point splash at the bottom of the cup. The momentum from that game individually carried over into the next night when he went 4-for-11 from the field but shot a team-high 7-of-10 free throws. He added a full one-third's share of BC's defensive rebounds as well while sprinkling an assist and a steal.
3) En Guard?
The first two games afforded Jim Christian the opportunity to shift between lineups and formations, but they also tested BC's flexibility after Jay Heath suffered a foot injury against Villanova. The unflappable guard was 7-for-14 against the Wildcats and added four rebounds, but Jim Christian made the determination to shut Heath down for the Rhode Island game after pregame warmups.
"A doctor looked at his foot before the game," Christian said. "We'll get back and get imaging and make sure everything's okay. We were cautious with him. Anytime someone has any type of injury, I go out and watch warmups. I watched and didn't like what I saw so I shut it down. He's tough as nails and wanted to play, but it's my job to protect him and protect his basketball future. So we shut him down right away and now we'll get imaging and look to do what's best for him."
BC shifted its style in his absence and reconfigured around both Wynston Tabbs and Rich Kelly in the backcourt. Christian inserted DeMarr Langford into the starting lineup for some more size next to both CJ Felder and Steffon Mitchell, but foul trouble to Makai Ashton-Langford saw BC move Kelly, a grad transfer from Quinnipiac, into an engineer's role off the bench.
He kept the offensive gears turning with 26 minutes of yeoman's work, and he scored 11 points by drawing contact and hitting free throws. Fellow transfer Freddie Scott added a three-pointer in nine minutes, but Luka Kraljevic stole the show with a huge three-pointer in his five second-half minutes.
"The one thing Luka does is play the center position," Christian said, "and he moves the ball really well. There was a crispness to what we did. I wanted to give Freddie Scott minutes to get comfortable, but Luka stepped in and gave us a big lift. We were all very proud of him."
Layup Line: Bubblicious
BC's games at Mohegan Sun gave the Empire Classic a localized flavor and echoed the team's old Big East days. The Villanova game ripped open wounds from the overtime loss in 2006 Sweet 16, but it more reminisced about the 52 meetings between the two teams before the Eagles left for the ACC. URI, meanwhile, could become the first repeat non-conference opponent in a single season in decades.
COVID-19's impact on travel forced teams to search for travel relief for games, and it's a big reason why Mohegan Sun's Bubbleville was created. The Empire Classic easily found URI as a competitive replacement team when Baylor withdrew, and the on-site scheduling enabled a team like Virginia Tech to easily schedule Villanova on the fly as part of the Air Force Reserve Tip-Off Tournament this weekend.
BC's next opponent, St. John's, is likewise a former Big East rival and one of the members of the league's new iteration. The Red Storm went to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 under head coach Chris Mullin and followed it up with a 17-win season last year that included a 91-71 win at home over No. 10 Creighton. They were ironically one of the teams on the floor at Madison Square Garden when the Big East canceled the remainder of its tournament and ended the season with a 38-35 lead over the Blue Jays at halftime of the game.
The St. John's game will air on ESPNU at 6 p.m. and will also be available locally on radio on WEEI 850 AM.
Nobody knew what to expect out of BC and the team's opening games only made it tougher to predict the first results. The COVID-19 pandemic shredded every team's non-conference schedule, but the Eagles wound up in the 2K Empire Classic at Mohegan Sun's Bubbleville as part of a star-studded field. They drew into a first round matchup with No. 3 Villanova, and not even a late switch from No. 2 Baylor to Rhode Island would prevent another tournament-caliber team from lining their powerful non-conference alignment.
Yet there Christian sat on Thanksgiving night after BC's 69-64 win over Rhode Island. His mask shielded his signature smile, but he leaned forward with confidence because the win over the Rams and the performance 24 hours earlier versus a national title contender did not shock the Eagles.
"Our performances didn't teach me anything I didn't already know," Christian said of his team's immediate growth. "It's teaching everyone else that we have great depth and chemistry. The kids love playing together and we knew it from the minute we hit campus. The new guys accepted their role, and you just don't know whose night it's going to be. Every night it could be someone different."
It wasn't so much that BC nearly upset No. 3 Villanova and defeated Rhode Island the next night as much as it was a continuation of one game into the next. The Eagles were every bit as good as the Wildcats on Wednesday night. And BC rallied past the Rams after a sluggish start on Thursday - and playing without leading scorer Jay Heath.
Guard play ruled the first game. Heath led the way, Makai Ashton-Langford made his debut, and Wynston Tabbs re-introduced himself to the college basketball world. BC's defense played a 3-2 zone and switched into man-to-man to isolate matchups and create mismatches. Steffon Mitchell did his usual yeoman's work, grabbing 12 rebounds, including 10 on the defensive end, while blocking four shots and notching two steals. It took Villanova's late-game, "we've been here before" composure to overtake the Eagles.
"These are hard games because we haven't had any exhibition games," Christian said. "We lost to a great basketball team that showed why they are who they are and why they're ranked where they're ranked. They made big plays. We had our opportunities, but there were a lot of things to build on."
Game two of the week saw a change to the starting five, as Heath was unavailable to go versus Rhode Island on Thursday night. A bigger lineup with Mitchell, CJ Felder, and freshman DeMarr Langford ruled the paint, and Wynston Tabbs and Rich Kelly displayed a full ability to earn contact and get to the line. BC shot 34 free throws and the sheer volume helped push the team past the Rams despite a dozen missed charity shots.
It delivered a split record and a third place finish in an elite tournament. BC left Mohegan Sun's first week with a win over a Rhode Island team that won 20 games last year and finished third in the Atlantic 10, a high-major basketball conference that has been on display during the opening week of the 2020-21 season.
"When we practiced and scrimmaged during preseason, we put everyone on different teams," Christian said, "and it was always a one-point game or three-point game every day. I think we have a balanced team. Again, they're not teaching me anything I didn't know, but they're taking the opportunity to teach everyone around the country what they know."
Here's what else we learned from Mohegan Sun's turkey dinner this week:
1) In the Zone...
The 3-2 zone is a great way to disrupt a half court offense built on solid outside shooters. It breaks up passing lanes and traps the ball into low percentage areas, and it specifically targets outside jump shots. It is especially effective against teams either without a big post player or without a zone defense in their arsenal.
Villanova fits that profile despite entering the season as a national championship contender. Its tallest starter was 6-7 forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, but the former McDonald's All-American got into foul trouble in the first half and wasn't seen for more than 13 minutes. Neither Brandon Slater nor Eric Dixon established any interior presence and it helped BC slash an eight-point deficit down to a tie score before halftime.
Robinson-Earl returned for the second half and hit three shots in the last ten minutes, but he helped fracture BC's zone around the four exterior shooters. Villanova doubled down on him in the post, and the bridge power forward spot played by Jermaine Samuels forced the Eagles into a man-to-man look late after the Wildcats came back from down eight.
"I didn't say anything special," Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. "I liked their approach that it's a long game, and we had to play every possession...They started figuring out the zone a bit. It's our first game, and we haven't played against zone. It was a smart move by Jim to do it, but our guys figured it out late."
The zone defense won't likely become a permanent fixture on the floor when BC faces a team like Duke or Virginia, both of which boast elite seven foot centers, but it's a smart tool to use, especially for a team built by chemistry.
"They had four shooters on the court," Christian said of the switch back to man-to-man. "They were driving some tough spots in the zone, so we gave them different shots to force someone else to beat us."
2) Keeping Tabbs
The opening tip-offs against both Villanova and Rhode Island carried emotional water weight after COVID-19 ended last year's college basketball season. The NCAA was the first domino for the new world, and bringing the sport back to national television felt cyclical. Every coach acknowledged as much and talked openly about approaching the first game with both excitement and trepidation.
It meant something altogether different for Wynston Tabbs, though, after he stepped into a starting lineup for the first time since suffering a knee injury almost two years ago. His comeback stalled twice after surgery robbed him of last season and COVID-19 forced him to adapt to a different kind of offseason rehabilitation, but he immediately and seamlessly rejoined the Eagles with 11 points against Villanova and a team-high double-double against Rhode Island.
"This is just the second game," Jim Christian said, "and consecutive nights is not an easy thing, especially for a guy like Wynston Tabbs, who we have to keep monitoring. These games come down to plays down the stretch, and we were lucky enough to get enough to beat URI."
It didn't take long for Tabbs to test his knee and display a flash of his capabilities. Just under four minutes into the second half of the Villanova game, he crossed Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to the baseline and split collapsing help for an up-and-under, reverse layup. It drew contact for a foul, but it also drew a rebel yell from Tabbs and exploded the BC bench, as everyone recognized the enormity of the moment.
Later on in the half, Tabbs crossed up another defender with a head fake, and he stepped back into a 3-point splash at the bottom of the cup. The momentum from that game individually carried over into the next night when he went 4-for-11 from the field but shot a team-high 7-of-10 free throws. He added a full one-third's share of BC's defensive rebounds as well while sprinkling an assist and a steal.
3) En Guard?
The first two games afforded Jim Christian the opportunity to shift between lineups and formations, but they also tested BC's flexibility after Jay Heath suffered a foot injury against Villanova. The unflappable guard was 7-for-14 against the Wildcats and added four rebounds, but Jim Christian made the determination to shut Heath down for the Rhode Island game after pregame warmups.
"A doctor looked at his foot before the game," Christian said. "We'll get back and get imaging and make sure everything's okay. We were cautious with him. Anytime someone has any type of injury, I go out and watch warmups. I watched and didn't like what I saw so I shut it down. He's tough as nails and wanted to play, but it's my job to protect him and protect his basketball future. So we shut him down right away and now we'll get imaging and look to do what's best for him."
BC shifted its style in his absence and reconfigured around both Wynston Tabbs and Rich Kelly in the backcourt. Christian inserted DeMarr Langford into the starting lineup for some more size next to both CJ Felder and Steffon Mitchell, but foul trouble to Makai Ashton-Langford saw BC move Kelly, a grad transfer from Quinnipiac, into an engineer's role off the bench.
He kept the offensive gears turning with 26 minutes of yeoman's work, and he scored 11 points by drawing contact and hitting free throws. Fellow transfer Freddie Scott added a three-pointer in nine minutes, but Luka Kraljevic stole the show with a huge three-pointer in his five second-half minutes.
"The one thing Luka does is play the center position," Christian said, "and he moves the ball really well. There was a crispness to what we did. I wanted to give Freddie Scott minutes to get comfortable, but Luka stepped in and gave us a big lift. We were all very proud of him."
Layup Line: Bubblicious
BC's games at Mohegan Sun gave the Empire Classic a localized flavor and echoed the team's old Big East days. The Villanova game ripped open wounds from the overtime loss in 2006 Sweet 16, but it more reminisced about the 52 meetings between the two teams before the Eagles left for the ACC. URI, meanwhile, could become the first repeat non-conference opponent in a single season in decades.
COVID-19's impact on travel forced teams to search for travel relief for games, and it's a big reason why Mohegan Sun's Bubbleville was created. The Empire Classic easily found URI as a competitive replacement team when Baylor withdrew, and the on-site scheduling enabled a team like Virginia Tech to easily schedule Villanova on the fly as part of the Air Force Reserve Tip-Off Tournament this weekend.
BC's next opponent, St. John's, is likewise a former Big East rival and one of the members of the league's new iteration. The Red Storm went to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 under head coach Chris Mullin and followed it up with a 17-win season last year that included a 91-71 win at home over No. 10 Creighton. They were ironically one of the teams on the floor at Madison Square Garden when the Big East canceled the remainder of its tournament and ended the season with a 38-35 lead over the Blue Jays at halftime of the game.
The St. John's game will air on ESPNU at 6 p.m. and will also be available locally on radio on WEEI 850 AM.
Players Mentioned
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