Boston College Men's Basketball Suffers Road Loss to No. 20 Louisville

The Eagles remain winless in conference play as it fell to the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon.

Boston College Men's Basketball (BCMBB) via X

The Boston College Eagles (7-9, 0-3 ACC) men’s basketball team lost its third consecutive game as it fell to the No. 20 Louisville Cardinals (12-4, 2-2 ACC) 75-62 on the road on Saturday afternoon. 

Final. pic.twitter.com/qJRnDBTeY1

— BC Men's Basketball (@BCMBB) January 10, 2026

Slow starts have consistently been a problem for Boston College this season, however that was not the case on Saturday. 

The Eagles got out to a slim 12-8 lead over the Cardinals with 15:27 to go in the first half. Boston College opened the game making five of its nine baskets and the stretch was led by Eagles guard Luka Toews, who scored seven of the team’s 12 points. 

The Eagles’ hot start continued and they extended their lead to six points 19-13 with 11:27 left in the half. BC’s offense slowed down in the home stretch of the half, but the team maintained its lead for the entirety of the first. 

Boston College increased its advantage to double digits 34-24 with 2:49 remaining in the half after a three-pointer by Eagles guard Donald Hand Jr., but the cushion did not last long. 

Louisville went on a 6-0 run to end the first 20 minutes of play and went into halftime down four points 34-30. 

In the half, Boston College shot 43.8 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from three-point range while Louisville shot 42.3 percent from the floor and 18.2 percent from behind the arc. 

The biggest difference was turnovers. The Eagles, which have struggled with turnovers all season, only had three in the half compared to the Cardinals’ seven. BC scored six points off Louisville’s seven turnovers. 

“We played engaged,” said Boston College men's basketball head coach Earl Grant on the first half. “We executed well, we defended at a high level, and I thought that there was a patch towards the end of the half where we didn't continue to maintain that level of execution.”

Coming out of the break, Louisville found its rhythm and tied up the contest at 41 with 15:34 left in regulation after going on a 9-0 run. 

Louisville took its first lead of the day 44-43 with 14:00 to go after center Aly Khalifa drilled a three-pointer. 

Boston College and Louisville went back-and-forth until the final eight and a half minutes of the contest. 

The Cardinals led the Eagles 53-50 with 8:55 left. BC guard Fred Payne tied things back up at 53 after making a three-pointer with 8:35 remaining. 

After that, Louisville went on a 9-0 run to regain the lead 62-53 with 5:56 to go in the game and never looked back. During the stretch, the Cardinals made all three of their baskets as well as knocked down three free throw attempts. 

In the final four minutes, Louisville made four of its final five baskets to help aid in the victory. Boston College made a pair of its final seven shot attempts.

“I think it was their size," said Grant on what slowed BC down in the second half. "We allowed the crowd to get into it which was different from the first half. And then some of it was a few of the shots where we didn't execute at the level we needed to execute. So it was a combination of things.”

Next up, Boston College travels to Clemson, S.C., to take on the Clemson Tigers on Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network.