Everything was falling for Makai Ashton-Langford. The veteran guard was amid a career-high, 23-point outing at Pittsburgh Saturday evening, during which he made four 3-pointers—more than he had sunk in the last five games combined—and already got a few off-balance layups to go.
He needed one more to lift Boston College men’s basketball to its first road victory in over a year.
With 4.3 seconds left, he received an inbound pass from his younger brother, DeMarr Langford Jr. Ashton-Langford weaved up the court and split Panthers guard Onyebuchi Ezeakudo and forward John Hugley before hoisting up a potential game-tying layup with his left hand.
Potential. That’s all it was.
Ashton-Langford’s shot bounced off the backboard and dropped harmlessly into the hands of Hugley. The Eagles’ 15-game road losing streak continues, and Pitt’s streak of heartbreaking ACC defeats is over.
The Panthers (6-9, 1-3 ACC), who lost their first three league matchups of the season by a combined five points, are finally in the conference win column. BC (6-7, 1-2), on the other hand, is still searching for its first win since its Dec. 3 blowout of Notre Dame.
A lot happened in the Petersen Events Center Saturday. Let’s unpack things.
It was a ticky-tacky game…both ways: BC and Pitt totaled 40 personal fouls. The Eagles accounted for 22, while the Panthers were a bit more fortunate with 18 whistles. BC was certainly in more of a pickle, considering its limited frontcourt depth, but both squads dealt with foul trouble. BC centers James Karnik and Quinten Post entered intermission with three personals each. Karnik fouled out with more than 10 minutes remaining, and Post lasted until about the one-minute mark in the second half. The duo, which teamed up for 30 points in BC’s win over Notre Dame back in December, logged a total of six points in 24 combined minutes Saturday.
Pitt, meanwhile, saw guard Femi Odukale foul out with 2:16 left. Hugley and fellow forward Mouhamadou Gueye finished with four personals apiece. BC was 14-of-19 (73.7%) from the charity stripe. Pitt converted at a bit higher clip, making 23-of-28 (82.1%) free throws.
Earl Grant was heated: The first-year Eagles head coach got a technical in the second half for not only voicing his frustration that a foul wasn’t called on Panthers forward Noah Collier, who appeared to make contact with Langford on his way up to the hoop, but also charging out toward near the 3-point line. Grant was visibly upset, given the way the game was called most of the evening. Jamarius Burton cashed in with a pair of free throws, jumpstarting an 8-3 Pitt run.
BC had its best 3-point shooting game of the year: The Eagles drilled a season-best nine 3-pointers against Pitt, which now ranks 230th nationally in 3-point defense, according to KenPom. Ashton-Langford was responsible for close to half of BC’s production beyond the arc. But his brother chipped in one—just his second 3-pointer of the 2021-22 campaign—as did Jaeden Zackery. And Brevin Galloway knocked down three off the bench. Galloway jacked up 10 triples for the second game in a row and is averaging 7.2 attempts per game from deep.
Pitt finally closed an ACC game out: The Panthers had lost to Virginia by one, Notre Dame by one and Louisville by three. They led all of the games at the under eight-minute media timeout in the second half. The same was true Saturday against BC. Only this time, head coach Jeff Capel’s team, which has also suffered defeats to The Citadel, Vanderbilt, UMBC and Monmouth this season, held on for the victory. BC was up by as many as 11 points in the first half and took a four-point advantage into the break. About midway through the opening period, the Eagles strung together a 13-2 run, boosted by 10 Ashton-Langford points, to stake themselves to a 24-13 lead. Led by Hugley, the Panthers shut the gap.
Hugley bullied the Eagles’ frontcourt: The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward became the fourth Pitt player since 2009 to turn in a 30-point, 10-rebound double-double. Hugley piled up 32 points and 13 rebounds, helping the Panthers outrebound BC, 38-27. The Cleveland native caught fire toward the end of the first half, at one point scoring eight straight points to cut the Panthers’ deficit from 11 to three. Soon after, he tied the game at the free throw line, where he ultimately logged 15 of his points. Despite being shorter than both Karnik and Post, Hugley outplayed both of them down low. And when he got to the charity stripe, the Panthers’ leading scorer capitalized, making 15-of-20 attempts. He even hit a 3-pointer during his monster performance.
Justin Vander Baan stepped up: With Karnik and Post in foul trouble, Grant had to pivot to sophomore 7-footer Justin Vander Baan, who has seen his playing time significantly decrease this season. In fact, before Saturday, Vander Baan had played a combined 14 minutes across three games (Dartmouth, Holy Cross and North Carolina). He was on the court for 15 minutes at Pitt, recording four points, two rebounds, one assist and one block. Vander Baan flashed some fluid ball movement and even converted an old-fashion 3-point play to tie the game at 56-56 with under six minutes to go.