Rewinding The Tape Prior To New Year's Eve Clash

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- The first half of the 2022-23 college basketball season carried an unforgiving grind for Earl Grant and Boston College. A steady stream of roadblocks into the early season and the uphill battle built by injuries encircled the team as the holiday season approached. Every headline felt like a series of challenges, and even the heartiest supporter had to admit that it at times felt like a form of voodoo cursed the Eagles.

Something big needed to break in the direction of BC, and last Wednesday night offered the exact set of circumstances capable of turning tides when the Eagles defeated Virginia Tech, 70-65 in overtime. The Eagles once again had the number of the the defending ACC champions and a team ranked 20th and 21st, respectively, on the Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls. And the win provided a bit of momentum heading into Saturday's New Year's Eve tilt against long-time rival Syracuse at the previously named - and always referred to in these parts - Carrier Dome.

"We're trying to build," said head coach Earl Grant. "We're trying to build, we've got a lot of young guys and a lot of new guys. I think we've had some heartaches and disappointments this year, playing young guys 30 minutes and having setbacks with injuries, but this gets them to continue to believe in the system that we're trying to install."

The win over Virginia Tech was deemed an upset due to last year's postseason banner and the first half success built by head coach Mike Young, but the Hokies have proven to be the perfect foil for Grant's "gritty, not pretty" mantra. The Eagles played with a different vibe from the opening tip, and it didn't change even after BC swallowed a nine-point deficit with a six-minute scoreless streak in the first half. BC simply kept pounding, and despite the outside shot disappearing for long swaths of basketball, the defensive-minded roster chipped away at the lead by limiting the Hokies to 1-for-10 shooting from outside in the first half. The lead didn't evaporate so much as it was removed by BC, which in turn built its own nine-point lead in the second half.

"I had been watching Mike Young since he was an assistant at Wofford," Grant explained. "I was at Spartanburg Methodist when he was at Wofford, and when I was at Winthrop, we scrimmaged them twice on Saturdays for four straight years, so I know him pretty well. He's one of the best coaches in the country, and I knew it was going to be a challenge."

Feeding a low-scoring affair eventually allowed BC to play from an advantageous position, and even though Virginia Tech slashed the Eagles' own nine-point lead with under five minutes remaining, Ashton-Langford's game-tying shot with under 32 seconds left in the second half helped send the game into overtime. Once there, the Hokies simply lost their inner balance, and a tougher, hungrier opponent stomped its way to its first win over a ranked team in over two years.

"Coach always tells us to believe," added Ashton-Langford. "We believe we can play with the best right now. That's all it takes. If you believe, you can succeed."

The result itself proved how BC can beat teams that are forced into playing a particular style. Virginia Tech had scored 70 points in its previous four games and shot 51 percent in its 74-48 win over Grambling in the game prior to playing BC, but the 41 percent three-point clip plummeted against BC's defense. The overall offensive success rate dropped nearly 10 percent points, and the attack that stung nationally-ranked North Carolina as part of the Hokies' one-loss start plummeted in its output against the Eagles.

Justyn Mutts dominated in that win over the Tar Heels, but his 18 points against BC stemmed from volume shooting over high efficiency. He shot 9-for-17 and tied Sean Pedulla for the Hokies' high output, but the duo went a combined 16-for-33 after Pedulla hit less than half of his shots. Together they amounted for half of Virginia Tech's four players in double figures, but the latter fouled out and they both combined for nine turnovers.

"They keep guys running around shooters," said Grant, "and they keep big guys who can score with angles. So I knew it was going to be a challenge, but we did a great job executing the game plan and limiting three point attempts. We made Mutts try to beat us by himself."

"We were digging down on Mutts," Ashton-Langford said. "He was doing his thing in the first couple of minutes, but we made a change because it had to be gritty for us to win."

BC, meanwhile, made the most of its opportunities and prominently featured Devin McGlockton in a role off the bench. Ashton-Langford scored 20-plus points to lead the duo as the Eagles' only double-figured scorers, but their seven rebounds balanced DeMarr Langford Jr.'s five offensive boards. The defense produced seven steals, and McGlockton was forced into a more prominent role when Virginia Tech began giving the ball to Mutts with more frequency. He grabbed two swipes, a number equaled by Jaeden Zackery, who came off the bench to guard the outside for two additional steals despite an injury that forced him out of the starting lineup for the first time in his year-plus with the Eagles.

"We were told to just be physical," McGlockton said. "Coach told us all week during practice to be physical and we did a lot of box-out drills. So that became our focus in this game."

"We had a lot of shots," added Ashton-Langford. "I usually try to get to the free throw line, and when [opponents] shoot mid-ranges or layups, I have to try to get my hands dirty. I have to get up in there and then start the fast break because usually when the guard gets a rebound, it's easier to get out on fast breaks."

Virginia Tech was the only game separating a December 13 matchup against Stonehill from this week's New Year's Eve date with Syracuse, but the win reverberated throughout the BC schedule after the Eagles dealt with the earlier losses to Tarleton State, Maine and New Hampshire. They gained a win over a national opponent and won an ACC game for the first time this season, and they dealt the Hokies their second loss of a season that started with a banner raising at Cassell Coliseum. It shook the ACC and rocked a league already stung by a strange brand of parity, and it shed light on the competitiveness associated with rough-and-tumble styles of play.

Over a week later, it's still a building block, and as BC plays Syracuse for the first of two matchups between the former Big East rivals, Grant and his charges also hope it's the new start of a new day in a conference ripe for a rising star.

"First of all, we needed to get home and have a Holly Jolly Christmas," Grant said. "They needed to have a good time with their families before coming back for five days' worth of practice that will really help us move forward. We were always going to enjoy Christmas, winning sure beats the alternative when you have that many days before your next game."

The Eagles and Orange tip at 2 p.m. at the Carrier Dome. The game will air live nationally on ACC Network.

Rewinding The Tape Prior To New Year's Eve Clash

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