Thoughts in Brief: Boston College, Round 3

• John Collins is a monster. Guy has no official FG attempts in the first half and finishes with 19 points (4-8, 11-15 from the line) and 12 rebounds, not to mention one official assist and plenty of hockey assists.
• Austin Arians was en fuego. 17 points, 5-8 shooting, 5-7 from deep, and 2-2 from the line. Man, if he can keep this up, teams will need to key on him more often and free up other guys, notably John Collins.
• Konstantinos Mitoglou had a quietly great game. 6 points (2-4 shooting, 1-3 from deep, 1-3 from the line), 8 rebounds, an assist, and 2 steals. Thank you, Dinos. I saw you.
• Bryant Crawford put the team on his back today.. JC arguably had more of an impact on the game, but Bryant had 20 points (4-7 shooting, 1-2 from deep, and a beyond reproach 11-12 from the line) plus 4 boards, a 6:2 assist to turnover ratio, and a steal.
• Keyshawn Woods also lit it up. 17 points on 6-11, an uncharacteristically cold 1-5 from deep, 4-5 from the line, plus 2 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. This really was the epitome of a team effort.
• I honestly think Brandon Childress hit the shot of the game, nailing a clutch three when Boston College tied the game at 53. I honestly think that was a spirit-breaking shot for the Eagles, as the Deacs used that shot to go on a 14-1 run.
• I feel really bad for Ky Bowman. Kid is a baller, and I really hope his injury isn’t as bad as it looked.
• We’d better hope John and Bryant can rebound quickly. They got mauled today, and Virginia Tech is, all due respect to the Eagles, a much tougher out.
• Part of me thinks there’s a chance VT comes out cold tomorrow having not played today. It happens fairly often in tournaments with byes, and if we can manage to get an early lead, we might stand a decent shot at riding it out, because this team is really good at grit and grind basketball.
• In that vein, it’s so refreshing to have a team that succeeds at the free throw line. The Deacs went an insane 33-43 from the line, for 76.7%. That is a LOT of free throws, and a very good percentage given the sheer volume of attempts.
• I think Greg McClinton is this team’s “lunch pail” player. He comes off the bench, does what he needs to do, and nothing else. So glad to have a guy like that. Great attitude, great effort, and really solid contributions. Shout out to Greg.

I’m scared of Virginia Tech only in the sense that I think they have the advantage tomorrow, but I feel very good about our tournament chances now, and I’m so proud of these players and coaches. We’re back, baby.

On to the next. Go Deacs.

—SF