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And that is why they play the games. In a stunning upset, the Boston College Eagles walked into the Dean Dome on Sunday night and handed the previously unbeaten No. 1 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels their first loss of the year...

Tobacco Road Shocker: Boston College Sends Tar Heels Up in Flames

by Steve Auger (Analyst)

12

119 reads

Game Recap

January 04, 2009


And that is why they play the games.

In a stunning upset, the Boston College Eagles walked into the Dean Dome on Sunday night and handed the previously unbeaten No. 1 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels their first loss of the year.

What a way for the Eagles to open up ACC play.

Forget all the talk of an undefeated season and strolling to a national title.

With Duke and Wake Forest appearing to have loaded teams, Carolina now must regroup and focus solely on winning the ACC after what appeared to be a given.

The Tar Heels will certainly be able to make up for this loss next Sunday when they travel to Wake Forest, but for now, the glory and the accolades go to B.C.

Give the Eagles their due because for such a young team (10 total freshmen and sophomores) they showed no fear, and more importantly, no quit.

In fact, some idiot on this very website predicted that UNC would win this game in a cakewalk.

The author even went so far as to write:

North Carolina is simply too talented to lose this game. Too many things need to go right for Boston College to have a legitimate chance of pulling the upset. At the same time, B.C. is too young, too inexperienced, and lacks the fire power to beat the Heels on the road.

So how in the name of James “Buster” Douglas did B.C. shock Carolina?

It started in the back court.

In a game highlighted by two of the elite guards in the conference, let alone the country, B.C.’s Tyrese Rice clearly won his match-up with Ty Lawson.

The Hampton, VA native scored 25 points, dished out eight assists, and even grabbed five rebounds in 36 minutes of play all without committing a foul.

Lawson on the other hand, scored a mere 10 points on an abysmal three of 13 shooting and handed out only four assists.

One of the biggest questions heading into the game was who would help Rice on the offensive end?

The answer came in the form of sophomore Rakim Sanders (22 points including four of seven on threes) and freshman Reggie Jackson, who chipped in with 17 points.

Author Poll

In light of their upset loss to Boston College, will North Carolina still win the ACC?

  • Yes
  • No
vote to see results
Author Poll Results

In light of their upset loss to Boston College, will North Carolina still win the ACC?

  • Yes

    76.5%

  • No

    23.5%
  • Total votes: 17
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12 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Jameson Fleming 6 months ago

    The amount of idiots on this site is mindboggling...swell recap as always. Congrats to your Eagles.

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    • Steve Auger 6 months ago

      If you didn't read the link, the "idiot" I was referring to was me (my Creature vs. Creature for the game....I predicted UNC by 26). Felt the need to poke fun at myself since my prediction was way off. But amazingly I did hit in my preview on all the points that BC had to accomplish to win.

      And make no mistake.....I am NOT and never will be a BC fan. I've been an SU hoops fan since the dreaded "Smart takes the shot" game in '87. I've just been writing about BC because I live in the Boston area and they're easy enough to cover because I get a lot of exposure to them. Just one more avenue to write about.

      When SU won the title in '03, I took pics of myself drinking orange gatroade. That shows where my loyalties are. IMHO, no one can root for SU and BC. That's just a lottle rule I live by. Won't stop me from writing about the Eagles though. Tonight's game was great theater.

      You catch ghe ending to kentucky-louisville? another barn burner.

      Thanks for the compliment on my recap.

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    • Jameson Fleming 6 months ago

      I was watching the Eagles game so I missed the UL game. I'm sure I'll see the highlights at some point. I should have made my idiots comment clearer. It was sarcasm because I saw your CvC and your prediction haha.

      Good to hear you bleed orange. You going to get to a game this year?

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    • Steve Auger 6 months ago

      I'm going to look at the schedule and see if a weekend game fits in with my schedule. I think doing a road trip recap would make a great article. Syracuse is about a 5.5 hr ride for me. last game I went to was in feb 2000...they beat GTown..sweet!

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  2. Nathan B 6 months ago

    The only one more disappointing than Lawson (4 turnovers to go with those lowly 4 assists to ... he usually has about a 5:1 ratio, which is one of the best in the country) was Deon Thompson. He seemed to be invisible and shot 1-6 from the FT line. You may not be an Eagles fan but you may have a lot to write about this season when it comes to them!

    Nice article as always, Steve. You idiot. ;-) ;-)

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    • Steve Auger 6 months ago

      yeah right, nice of Thompson to take the night off.

      I agree, I'll be writing about BC a lot. They look like they'll be a decent team.

      King Idiot Steve

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  3. Brett Lissenden 6 months ago

    Congrats for being wrong on your prediction. Good to see UNC shown some humility. And UK should have put Liggins in the game to defend Sosa on that last posession for Louisville, then they wouldn't have needed to give him such a big cushion. Porter played great but he's just not quick enough to hang with a lot of those guys.

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    • Steve Auger 6 months ago

      I fully admit that I am King Dope tonight with my prediction. But, I have been gloating because I totally nailed what BC needed to do to win. 50-50 isn't bad.

      Tough break for UK. Maybe Sosa will shoot from 1/2 court next time.

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  4. Chris 6 months ago

    Great breakdown of the game. Your predictions on how BC could win in your previous article were pretty much spot on. I was watching the NFL playoffs, because I was expecting a blowout loss as you were, and I'm upset I missed the game. As a BC fan, I'm glad to see they got their 15 minutes of fame this season, but they're too inconsistent for me to get my hopes up too much.

    I was watching the NFL playoffs, because I was expecting a blowout loss as you were, and I'm upset I missed the game. You don't happen to know where I could find the game online or at least the play to which you referred in the end of the article (when Rakim Sanders ran down Wayne Ellington)? Anyway, nice article.

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    • Steve Auger 6 months ago

      Thanks for the great feedback, Chris.

      Don't sell the Eagles short this year. While they are young and will probably have a few losses in ACC play directly attributed to their youth, I think they'll surprise some teams this uyear like they did to UNC.

      Not sure about the whole game on-line but I'd check espn.comn or cbssportsline.com for replays of highlights. I'd be surprised if the block wasn't shown.

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  5. Michael Peila 6 months ago

    Great write-up but you don't have to be so hard on yourself. You are not an idiot and you pointed out what BC needed to do to win the game which they did. Oh, catchy article title also.

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    • Steve Auger 6 months ago

      Thanks a lot, Michael. Much appreciated. I was just having fun beating on myself since I picked a 26 point Heel romp. Figured I had to own up with a "mea culpa." I won't stop picking games though.

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