The Boston College men’s basketball team hadn’t beaten a ranked team in three years. Doing so provided reason to celebrate. The Eagles also defeated the No. 1 team in the country on their home court Saturday. That was another big reason for excitement. Additionally, the No. 1 team that went down was Duke.
Stir those three factors together and you had a court-storming celebration at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill Saturday afternoon as Boston College beat Duke, 89-84, to tag the Blue Devils with their first loss of the season.
The win was the fourth time in school history that the Eagles’ basketball team defeated the nation’s top team. The last time Boston College knocked a No. 1 team off its pedestal was in 2014, when the Eagles beat Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Apparently, the Eagles only have a gift for beating ranked teams when they’re No. 1.
With the win over No. 1 Duke, Boston College is now 2-0 against AP No. 1 teams in the last 5 seasons and 0-27 against other ranked teams
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 9, 2017
Boston College was led by Ky Bowman’s 30 points. The sophomore guard nearly earned a triple double, adding nine assists and 10 rebounds. Junior Jerome Robinson shot 5-for-5 from three-point range (and 8-for-11 from the field) on his way to 24 points, and Jordan Chatman hit another five threes of his own, scoring 22 points. Overall, the Eagles shot 15-for-27 on their three-point attempts.
Undefeated no more! @BCMBB takes down No. 1 Duke!!#BCEagles pic.twitter.com/VKoXHI3A7c
— Boston College Eagles (@BCEagles) December 9, 2017
On the other side, Gary Trent Jr. was Duke’s leading scorer with 25 points. Star guard Grayson Allen was held to 14 points on 5-of-20 shooting, including 1-of-9 from three. As a team, the Blue Devils only shot 27 percent from behind the arc.
Allen also suffered a black eye during the game, but that was inflicted by a teammate. Javin DeLaurier accidentally gave him that shiner, kicking Allen in the face while going for a block.
In a strange footnote to the win, the lights at Conte Forum went out as the Boston College students streamed onto the court. The natural joke would be that the Eagles shot the lights out Saturday afternoon. Or it was some weird form of celebration?
Boston College (literally) turned out the lights on No. 1 Duke. ? #BCEagles pic.twitter.com/JiWEempoO4
— Stadium (@WatchStadium) December 9, 2017
Did someone in arena operations make a poor decision in an attempt at crowd control? If so, turning the lights out seemed like a bad idea, as ESPN’s Jay Williams mentioned.
Great win for Boston College vs Duke but the lights going off in the stadium as BC fans stormed the court should never be allowed. Security couldn’t have any clue what may happen & their response time would be limited.
— Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) December 9, 2017
Boston College has two more days of afterglow (and a probable entry into the AP Top 25) before hosting Columbia on Tuesday. Duke has 10 days to think about this loss until Evansville visits Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 20.
