UNC men's basketball scrapes by Boston College, 102-96, in overtime win

The UNC men's basketball team (13-8, 6-3 ACC) scraped by Boston College (9-11, 1-8 ACC), 102-96, on Saturday afternoon in the Dean E. Smith Center. 

In an overtime battle, the Tar Heels survived BC to continue a six-game win streak against the Eagles. Crucial shots from sophomore guard Cadeau, graduate guard RJ Davis and junior guard Seth Trimble made up the overtime period. A layup with 13 seconds left from Trimble pushed UNC into extra time after first-year guard Ian Jackson scored 15 points in the second half to keep North Carolina in it. Junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin also contributed a block and two-handed slam to put the game away. UNC outscored BC 13-7 in overtime.

"I like how we dug it out," Jackson said. "Obviously, we weren't in the position we wanted to be but we made big time plays down the stretch."

The trio of graduate guard RJ Davis, Jackson and junior forward Jalen Washington traded baskets to push UNC to a 19-15 lead eight minutes into the game. Washington scored eight points for North Carolina across a three minute span with perfect placements from Davis and sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau. 

Although junior guard Seth picked up the pace, rattling off five quick points on back-to-back possessions, the Eagles stayed within reach of the Tar Heels. Starting at the 10 minute mark, Boston College made five of its next five field goal attempts to make it 31-30. 

BC took the lead with a layup and went 3-3 from the field coming out of the media timeout. A Davis layup and Washington's subsequent free throws pushed North Carolina to tie the game 37-37 with under four minutes left in the half. 

While the Tar Heels scored seven straight points that ended with a one-handed Powell poster on Boston College's Jayden Hastings, UNC could not pull away. The Eagles scored seven points in the last two minutes compared to North Carolina's three.

"We just didn't play very well defensively at all," head coach Hubert Davis said.

Somehow, the Tar Heels scraped by with a 46-45 lead at the half. 

In the opening four minutes of the second half,  the Eagles relied on outside shooting to take an early three point lead, scoring eight points with six coming from behind the arc.

Although Powell tried to get things rolling for UNC with a three, Boston College found success in the post with BC's Chad Venning making back-to-back layups. The Eagles led by four with fifteen minutes remaining. 

Jackson eventually put UNC on his back, scoring six points across two minutes to make it a one-point game before the 11 minute media timeout. After Trimble tied it up with a free throw, the Eagles turned the ball over. On the next possession, Jackson hit a three. Despite two treys from BC and two missed free throws from Jackson, Washington found Jackson on the corner to make it 72-70 with seven minutes left. 

On ensuing possessions, BC made two 3-pointers to take the lead once again. Although Jackson made a three point play, the Eagles responded once again with a trey. 

"No matter how good you play offensively, the game is won on the defensive end," Trimble said. "We never even went on a run where we made them cold."

With a minute and a half remaining, Washington made a layup and hit two free throws to tie it. Venning responded with a layup and the Tar Heels turned the ball over on the next possession. Boston College responded with another field goal to make the score 89-85 with 25 seconds left. 

Trimble made it a one possession game after making two free throws. North Carolina called a timeout with 18.9 seconds remaining. Although it seemed like hope was lost, Boston College turned the ball over. Under a crowded basket, Trimble laid the ball in to tie it with 13.2 remaining. With one second remaining, Powell stole the ball to push the game into overtime. 

To open overtime, Cadeau laid the ball in and Venning missed both free throws on the ensuing possession. The two teams continued to trade baskets. With just over a minute remaining, Trimble drove into the post and made the layup to put UNC up 98-96. After Venning fouled Davis — resulting in his fifth foul of the game — Davis made both attempts at the charity stripe. 

On the other end, junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin made the block and the two handed slam to put the game away. 

The Tar Heels will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Pitt Panthers at 9 p.m. on Tuesday.

@_emmahmoon

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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