Kapke and Payne Lead Boston College Men's Basketball to Second Consecutive ACC Win Over Pitt

Boden Kapke's three-pointer with 22 seconds left capped off his 19-point performance.

Boston College Men's Basketball (BCMBB) via X

Looking for a second consecutive win in ACC play, Boston College men’s basketball returned to Conte Forum on Wednesday night against Pittsburgh. In a thriller, the Eagles won 65-62. 

BACK-2-BACK AT CONTE‼️ pic.twitter.com/8LR0f66XBY

— BC Men's Basketball (@BCMBB) January 22, 2026

It was a back-and-forth start to the matchup, with the Eagles holding a slim 6-5 advantage going into the first media timeout. Boden Kapke scored four of BC’s first six points.

Kapke continued his hot start after the break, scoring 11 points in the first 10 minutes of the half as BC led 17-12 with 10:18 remaining.

"We got a stud," BC head coach Earl Grant said about Kapke after the game. "He's starting to come into his own as an inside-outside threat. Hopefully we can continue to help him keep his confidence going in the right direction."

Pitt’s Damarco Minor was issued a Flagrant 2 and ejected from the game with 8:30 remaining in the first half after a hard foul on BC’s Chase Forte in transition. Minor was averaging 10.1 points per game coming into the night.

The teams dried up from the field near the close of the first half, as BC held a 23-19 lead with 3:22 left. Outside of Kapke, the Eagles were unable to find consistent offense in the opening half.

The Eagles took a 28-22 lead into the halftime break. The teams combined to shoot just 18 of 58 in the first half. Kapke had 12 first-half points, and Donald Hand Jr. contributed six points of his own. 

The Eagles came out of the break slow. Pitt forced BC to use a timeout just 31 seconds into the second half after a quick 5-0 run. 

The Panthers eventually jumped out in front, holding a 39-36 lead with 14:38 remaining in the matchup. 

Their lead reached as many as six as the Eagles continued to struggle to get clean looks on the offensive end. 

A three-pointer from Fred Payne and an and-one layup through traffic for Forte knotted the game at 47. Payne found his rhythm in the second half, ending with 18 points. His four-point play with 8:31 left brought the Eagles within two.

"I'm a scorer now," said Payne. "Second half mindset, getting to the rack, get a couple easy ones, get my guys involved so I can be open. I just have to be more aggressive second half."

Pitt took a 60-57 advantage into the final media timeout with 3:42 left. 

Forte tied the game up at 62 with a huge three-pointer that came with 1:58 remaining. After misses from both teams, Pitt held possession of the ball with 53.1 seconds left. Roman Siulepa missed a wide open layup and the Eagles got the ball back with 36.6 seconds remaining.

The two stars of the show linked up again in clutch time, with Kapke receiving the ball from Payne on the right wing and nailing the three-pointer. After a series of stops, the Eagles closed out a 65-62 victory.