Belmont 100 Boston College 85: Defense Disappears in Gotham Classic
The Boston College men's basketball team had a chance at a statement win against Belmont, but a non-competitive second half buried the Eagles in a 100-85 loss to end their perfect start to the season.
The loss was the first meeting between the two schools and was part of the Gotham Classic, which is made up of five teams (also Saint Louis, Eastern Washington and High Point) from across the country.
“I’m disappointed in myself, and I’m disappointed in the way we played today. We’re a better basketball team than that, but we’ve got to get better," said head coach Jim Christian. "There was not one person on our team that did what we needed to do on defense to win this game.”
Boston College played a competitive first half, matching the Bruins' high shooting percentage. Both teams entered the locker room at halftime hitting 58 percent of their shots, as the Eagles only trailed 49-45 despite poor defense.
In the second half, the defense didn't improve and the offense couldn't keep up. Belmont hit nine of its first eleven shots to open the half, with six 3-pointers, to go on a 30-9 run.
The Bruins put Boston College in a hole that it couldn't shoot its way out of. The Eagles would close the gap late, turning their 25-point deficit into a 15-point loss, but had no chance of coming back with the defense they were playing.
“I was disappointed with how we guarded the ball,” Christian said. “I was disappointed with how we rotated. All the stuff we had been doing really really well, we didn’t do today.”
Adam Kunkel led the way for the Bruins, dicing through the Boston College defense all game to finish with a career-high 35 points. Belmont got three more players to finish in triple figures as Nick Hopkins scored 15, Nick Muszynski scored 13 and Michael Benkert had 10.
Senior Nik Popovic led the Eagles with a season-high 23 points. Meanwhile, graduate transfer Derryck Thornton finished with 15 points and seven rebounds playing through an ankle injury that sidelined him briefly throughout the game.
While the Eagles' defense was their identity in their first three wins, today's loss marked a major setback for that part of their game. Their defense will be a question and point of emphasis as they approach conference play.
“I don’t think we stayed composed at all,” Christian said. “I think that starts with our older guys, that’s their job. I thought they were the ones that were not composed.”
