Boston College Men’s Basketball Opens ACC Play With Loss to Wake Forest
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The Boston College Eagles (6-4, 0-1 ACC) men’s basketball team suffered a loss in its ACC opener to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-3, 1-0 ACC) 72-66 on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles got off to hot start as they made five of their first eight shots and took an early 15-5 advantage within the first three and a half minutes of the first half.
After getting themselves into a ten point hole, the Demon Deacons battled back and went on a 14-2 run. Wake Forest got its first lead of the day 19-17 with 9:49 left in the half.
The two teams went back-and-forth throughout the remainder of the first 20 minutes of play. Boston College stayed in the contest and went into halftime with a slight 38-35 deficit.
Like a majority of the games this season, fouls and turnovers continued to be a problem for Boston College. In the first half, the Eagles turned the ball over seven times which resulted in 14 Wake Forest points and committed nine fouls.
Coming out of the break, Boston College regained the lead after going on a 6-0 run with a pair of three-pointers by guards Donald Hand Jr., and Josh Beadle, but another big 11-0 run by Wake Forest put the Demon Deacons back in front 49-41.
The Eagles tied up the game at 55 with 9:04 to go, however could not find a way to retake the lead. The Demon Deacons scored six unanswered points to go up 61-55 on three free throws and a three-pointer and never looked back.
Boston College got within two points on multiple occasions down the stretch but that is as close as the team could get for a potential comeback win.
The biggest key to Wake Forest’s victory was free throws. In total, the Eagles were called for 24 fouls and the Demon Deacons went 25-of-34 from the line. Starting guard Cameron Hildreth had the most attempts from the charity stripe as he went 14-of-18. Hildreth finished his day with 22 points which led the team.
As a whole, Boston College went 12-of-14 from the free throw line.
Next up, Boston College hosts Stonehill on Sunday, Dec. 15. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. ET on ACCNX.
Kim Rankin is the lead writer for Boston College On SI. The 2020 graduate of the University of Alabama. She joined Alabama Crimson Tide On SI in February 2024 covering baseball, softball, football, men’s basketball, and more for BamaCentral, but has also contributed to Missouri Tigers 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.
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