UVa. led Boston College 20-5 10 minutes in, led by 19 at halftime, and still led by 19 with 4:47 to go. Then BC came back. With a vengeance.
The Eagles got as uncomfortably close as six points in the final minute before Virginia held on for a 77-67 win Wednesday night in Charlottesville, Va.
This should be cause for concern, right? I mean, come on, you’ve got to close games out better than that. This is BC. What happens if you get a big lead on Syracuse? The ‘Cuse is no BC.
Relax. This is actually a good thing. The win pushes the ‘Hoos to a 9-1 record in the ACC. In eight of those wins, Virginia by at least 20 points at some point along the way.
This is the first time a team showed any gumption when down big. Good news: Virginia weathered the storm.
And a storm it was. Boston College outscored Virginia 15-2 over a 4:10 stretch late to get the margin down to six.
Good that this happens now and not this weekend on the road in Atlanta at Georgia Tech, or next week at home against NCAA hopeful Maryland, or that aforementioned upcoming game at home March 1 against #1 Syracuse.
Virginia still got the relatively easy win, and coach Tony Bennett has something to yell at his team about postgame and tomorrow as the attention turns to the Yellow Jackets on Saturday.
When you’re 9-1 in the toughest conference in America, you want something to get in the faces of your players with.
Bennett doesn’t need to make something up, as he’s had to do a lot of late. Practice and preparations for the Georgia Tech-Maryland stretch coming up Saturday/Monday should be taken care of now.
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Chris Graham
