Everything Boston College Men’s Basketball Head Coach Earl Grant Said After Win Over Virginia Tech
The Boston College Eagles men’s basketball team got back in the win column with a 54-36 victory over Virginia Tech on Tuesday night at Conte Forum.
After the game, Eagles head coach Earl Grant spoke about his team’s performance and what he saw out of them.
Below is a transcript of everything Grant said.
Q: Coach, you guys held Virginia Tech to the lowest single half points a BC opponent has had since the shot clock was implemented. So how were you guys able to be so stifling defensively against a team that came in here virtually identical to you guys in scoring?
GRANT: Yeah, I mean it's really hard to do that and I didn't even recognize we were doing it. We were trying to win the possession. We knew the game was going to be tough. Really respect Mike Young. He recruited me in 1996, like he was recruiting me at Wofford as an assistant. So I've known him, and I respect him, and I know how hard it is to play against him. We've had battles, so to do that was really not an easy thing, but I thought our players were connected. We've been hardened. We've been through a lot. And the young guys are growing up and so, we went out, we didn't turn it over and we took good shots. We wasn't giving up easy baskets and we rebounded the first miss. So, I just saw them grow up a little bit in front of me tonight. We gotta try to build on it. It's hard to do what we did.
Q: You guys really didn’t get many more steals or fast break points. There wasn’t a huge points off turnovers discrepancy. Seems like you guys were just really standing your ground like straight up. What did you tell them in prep for today’s game?
GRANT: We wanted to be sound. They really shoot the free throws well, so we were trying to just play sound, not gamble, just make them shoot contested shots. Rebound the first miss, show your hands to the referees. They typically have shot a lot of free throws so in the first half, we didn't really foul and we just was very sound. So, we didn't force a lot of turnovers, we just wanted to force them into a tough shot. We didn't need to steal it. And so I thought the guys did a good job of executing the plan.
Q: Chas Kelley started for the first time since Dec. 3. What kind of went into that decision?
GRANT: I thought our team, going into this season, we had to do some different things by committee. And so he was the starting point guard and I thought Josh Beadle, him [Kelley] and Beadle was even and then Josh Beadle was playing really good basketball. I had a conversation with Chas, told him it'd be better to come off the bench. And then, I had the same conversation with Beadle a couple days ago. So I think it’s just a matter of them guys doing it by committee, Chas Kelley, Josh Beadle, and Luka Toews and they gotta understand we need all three of them to play well for us.
Q: You guys were able to decrease your turnovers a lot from the game this weekend. What kind of was working better today?
GRANT: Just soundness and this toughness with the ball because the turnovers in the last game were very uncharacteristic. It wasn't nobody trapping. It was just they out toughed us. They took the ball from us and so we were tougher. We had two days to talk about it and work on it and thought the guys came out with a good grit level to them, and did a great job of sharing the ball as well as taking care of the ball.
Q: Just how important is it to form an identity in those first few minutes? I feel like whether you guys win or lose, it's kind of determined whether or not you guys really like implement what you want to do in those first five.
GRANT: The whole time, for the last four years, we've had great identity. We play really tough, we get better at the end, we defend, we rebound. And then this year we were trying to reestablish that identity. Like all year, we were fighting for it and trying to get them guys to understand what BC basketball meant. And we still fighting for it because even though it's late in the season, it's really not late for this team because we only been together, most of us, for four months. So hopefully we can continue to understand what BC basketball means and come down the final stretch playing the game the right way. At least we're gonna try to pursue that.
Q: Coach, Chas winds up with four rebounds. Fred Payne had three rebounds. Jayden Hastings had five rebounds. Elijah had four. Beginning of the week, I asked you on the ACC call about the young guys getting the experience and getting into the groove of things. Just how does a game like this kind of continue that conversation of just what the younger guys have been able to do and continue their development?
GRANT: I thought Jayden was great. It's back to back games for him where he played good, quality minutes. He was eight points, five rebounds, 4-for-4 from the field, so he just developing and flourishing, growing up. I thought he was really good. Fred’s always been consistent. He didn't score as much tonight, but he made the right plays with the basketball. He defended. So, really proud of them guys, just been growing up. They're getting better, they're getting hardened, and it's only going to help them as they continue to move forward in their career.
Q: DJ mentioned the physicality of the game. Just how does that type of game kind of feed what you guys are able to do, both defensively and then turning that the opposite direction, turning it into offense?
GRANT: Yeah, it was physical because they're very sound. They try to play the game the right way. Man to man defense. They hit you, they bump you on cuts. So, it’s almost like we went against ourselves in practice today. I felt like we both like to play man to man and so it just felt like a practice. It was very physical. The referees actually did a really good job of not blowing their whistle in every possession and let us play a little bit. And so, I'm happy our guys showed great toughness.
Q: I know you've mentioned the fruit of your labor a couple times throughout the year, of trying to find it through the overtime games and some of the losses. Does this one really drive that point home of finding the fruit of your labor and finally getting that one over the top win there?
GRANT: I mean, we talked about it this morning. Don't give up. You're gonna get a reward. There's no way you can show up every day and work, I mean, like it's principle, like you show up and work hard, you give good effort, have a good attitude, something's gonna break through at some point. And hopefully we're in the process of breaking through, but it's hard to get out. We got to show up again the next day and work and get ready for the next one. Try to celebrate this for about, I guess, already it’s midnight almost. So we're celebrating for a few hours and then get ready to prepare for the next opponent.
Q: We’ve see the suit game come up this year. We've seen a couple of different looks. I like the long sleeves under the polo shirt. Got some good luck in there?
GRANT: Well, no, not really. I don't know. I used to be superstitious. I'm not as superstitious anymore. If you win 40 games at home in a row [then] you’re superstitions, but when you’re trying to figure out how to win, you lose some of that. It was a late night, I knew it was going to be a dog fight. I wanted to make sure I could help our team. And so, just wanted to make sure I was comfortable and can move around and just try to help these guys. I expected a dog fight and I'm just happy our guys were able to compete at the level that they did.
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Kim Rankin is a 2020 graduate of the University of Alabama. She joined On SI in February 2024 covering baseball, softball, football, men’s basketball, and more for BamaCentral, Missouri Tigers On SI, and now Boston College Eagles On SI. She previously worked as the brand manager at Tide 100.9 FM in Tuscaloosa, Ala. She has covered a wide variety of events including SEC Championships, NCAA Regionals, and bowl games. Connect with Kim on X/Twitter at @kmrankin1 and follow the site at @BostonCollegeSI.