Boston College makes 18 three-pointers, easily beats Miami Hurricanes 84-62
The Miami Hurricanes had no answer for Boston College’s outside shooting, struggled in every facet of the game, and paid with an 84-62 road loss on Tuesday night.
“I thought Boston College was very sharp, start to finish, and we were awful,” said UM coach Jim Larranaga. “We had a terrible practice (Monday), missed layups, careless with the ball and it carried over to the game…As a whole we played an awful game.”
The Eagles made a season-high 18 three-pointers to snap a four-game losing streak, while the Hurricanes went 2-of-16 from beyond the arc. “Pretty hard to win when one team is making 18 threes and the other team is making two,” Larranaga said.
Boston College guards Rich Kelly and Jay Heath made 12 of the Eagles’ three-pointers. Kelly led all scorers with 27 points and Heath had 25.
“They just torched our backcourt like we weren’t there,” Larranaga said. “When one guy starts making it, it’s like a snowball effect. We told our guys Kelly is having a great year and Heath is an all-caliber guard.
Miami’s top two scorers were Elijah Olaniyi and Nysier Brooks, with 14 apiece. Isaiah Wong, who led UM with 24 points in a win at North Carolina State on Saturday, was held to six against the Eagles. UM once again played without its top scorers, injured Chris Lykes and Kam McGusty. Their outside shooting was especially missed, Larranaga said.
Boston area freshman Matt Cross, who had been a key player all season and one of UM’s best outside shooters, had an off-night on his homecoming. He finished with no points, no rebounds, no assists, no blocks, no steals and two turnovers in 22 minutes.
“Some kids play great when they’re close to home, some kids are uptight, mentally distracted by playing in their hometown, but clearly, this was by far Matt’s worst game,” Larranaga said.
The Hurricanes have lost four of the past five and dropped to 5-6 overall, 1-5 in the ACC. The Eagles are 3-9 overall, 1-5 in the ACC.