Boston College Men's Basketball Falls to NC State

CHESTNUT HILL Mass.— The Boston College Eagles (7-8, 0-2 ACC) men’s basketball team suffered a 79-71 home loss to the NC State Wolfpack (11-5, 2-1 ACC) on Tuesday night. 

The Eagles found themselves down early 7-5 with 15:53 to go in the opening half. Boston College struggled with turnovers early as it had three within the first three and a half minutes of play. 

All of BC’s first five points were scored by guard Fred Payne. 

NC State went on a hot streak and extended its advantage to double digits 20-10 with 10:24 left in the half. The Wolfpack made four of its five shot attempts during the stretch which included three three-pointers. 

NC State’s offense slowed a bit in between timeouts, however Boston College’s struggles with turnovers and shooting continued which helped the Wolfpack maintain its lead 25-14 with 7:52 to go in the first. 

The only Eagles points were from a layup by forward Jayden Hastings and two free throws by Payne after NC State head coach Will Wade was called for a technical for arguing with the refs. 

In the final seven and half minutes of the first, Boston College’s offense improved as it made six of its final eight baskets, however the team could not get enough stops on the defensive side of the ball and went into halftime down 40-32. 

Turnovers continued to be a problem for BC in the first 20 minutes of action as it recorded 12. 

Coming out of halftime, Boston College showed a little more fight to open the second. The Eagles made three of their first five shot attempts, but still trailed the Wolfpack 48-42 with 15:34 remaining in regulation. 

The Eagles slowly chipped away at their deficit and got within four points 52-48 with 11:22 to go after going on a 6-1 run. 

Boston College got within three points 56-53 with 9:46 to go, but a quick 6-0 run by NC State put its lead back up to nine points 62-53 with 7:19 left.

In the final six minutes of the contest, NC State ran away with it after making six of its final eight shot attempts which included five consecutive baskets in the last four and a half minutes.

Next up, Boston College travels to Louisville, Ky., to take on the No. 20 Louisville Cardinals on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is set for noon ET on The CW.