Boston College began the New Year with an impressive come-from-behind victory against an old foe.
Guard Jaeden Zackery scored a game-high 18 points in a 70-63 win over Notre Dame in an ACC clash on Tuesday night at Conte Forum.
Freshman Price Aligbe netted 15 with seven boards, while center Quinten Post scored 10 with nine rebounds in his second game of the season. JJ Starling and Dane Goodwin scored 16 apiece for ND.
BC improved to 8-7 overall, 2-2 in the ACC, and will host Duke on Saturday at 1 p.m. Notre Dame leads the series 27-14, but BC has won two straight at home against the Irish under second-year coach Earl Grant.
“Our fans and Notre Dame’s fans have been enjoying this game for years and I’m just happy to coach in it,” said Grant. “Our players were inspired to play the game and we found a way to win.”
Notre Dame guard, the appropriately named Trey Wertz, opened the second half with consecutive corner treys to give the Irish their biggest lead, 44-34, lead with 17:51 remaining.
BC made a series of short spurts but couldn’t mount a sustained run and trailed 50-43 into the second media timeout. Aligbe completed a pair of power moves in the paint to make it 52-49 with 7:25 to play.
Zackery tied the game 52-52 on a baseline drive with 5:47 to play, but Starling countered with a 3-ball to put the Irish back in front.
“I feel like being able to come down at the end and tie the game, we had the momentum and the crowd being loud,” said Zackery. “We had some big stops and some big scores and had all the momentum and that kind of pushed us the rest of the game.”
Aligbe hit a pull up jumper in the paint to cut the lead to 61-60 with 2:30 to play. BC took its first lead of the game, 62-61, on a pull up jumper on the baseline by transfer guard Mason Madsen with 1:31 on the clock. DeMarr Langford Jr. iced the game with two from the line with 33 seconds remaining.
“Coach came in at halftime and pushed defense,” said Zackery. “Coach doesn’t worry about offense, he pushes defense every single game and we brought the aggression to them and it helped us out.”
Both teams were operational from the opening tap and the Irish took a 13-9 lead into the first media timeout. Starling got ND rolling with a 3-ball and a runner off the glass. Post, who missed the first 13 games with a foot injury, came off the bench and established a post presence with a put back and a pull up jumper in the lane.
The Eagles were dominant on the defensive glass but failed to finish makeable shots at the other end and trailed 21-17 at the second media timeout. BC trailed by eight but rallied to cut the lead to 27-26 on a baseline drive by Post with 4:49 to play. Madsen hit a jumper at the buzzer to cut ND’s lead to 38-34 on the half.
