Analysis and notes from the Eagles 82-75 win over Sacred Heart at Conte Forum on Sunday afternoon.

Play of the game

With just under four minutes left to play the Eagles held onto just a 64-59 lead over Sacred Heart. Jerome Robinson made one of two free throws before the Pioneers went to the line with the chance to close the gap just a four point Eagle lead. Joseph Lopez of Sacred Heart missed both free throws and the Eagles pushed the ball up the floor. With BC's lead now at six, 65-59, Ky Bowman dribbled and found an open Jordan Chatman in the corner right in front of the Boston College bench. Chatman, who had five of his last six attempts from deep, caught the pass in rhythm and went up as he released a smooth 3-pointer that swished. Just 23 seconds later Connar Tava stole the ball from a Pioneer guard and pushed a 2-on-1 break with Chatman. As Chatman floated back to the exact same spot where he knocked down the trey the play before, Tava hit him there again as Chatman connected from behind the line to extend the Eagle lead to 12 points, they led 71-59. The personal 6-0 run by the BYU transfer proved to be the straw that broke the camels back and put BC far enough away to ensure their second win in a row.

Highlight of the game

The Eagles forced the Pioneer offense into 15 first half turnovers in the win on Sunday afternoon. BC led 12-8 after a made jumper by Jerome Robinson as they returned to the other end of the floor to play defense. In a reoccurring theme throughout the first 20-minutes of the game, the Eagles defense shined as Robinson created a turnover and raced past every player on the floor and soared above the rim for this two hand jam that pushed the lead to a 14-8 Eagles lead.

Player(s) of the game

This one is a pretty simple one as sophomore guard Jerome Robinson notched a new career-high in points and steals in the win. The 6-foot-5 sophomore finished the day with 32 points and five steals. He went 11-for-20 from the field and 9-for-11 from the foul line.

The 32-point outburst by Robinson is the fourth-most scored in a game by an ACC player this season.

1st Half Offense

In the first half of the win on Sunday afternoon against Sacred Heart the Eagles offense executed and scored in many different ways. It was clear from the tip-off that BC didn't not want to come out flat on either side of the floor and suffer a hangover loss from their big win over Auburn on Monday.

The Eagles led for 18:13 of the first 20 minutes and excueted their offense all over the floor. The Eagles scored 24 points in the paint, which was led by a solid effort from freshman versatile big man Nik Popovic who 7 points, had 4 rebounds, and dished out two assists. He played within the offense, didn't force anything and continued to show signs of what looks like a productive high-major player.

BC scored 18 points off of the Pioneers 15 first half turnovers, shot 14 free throws, and got 17 points from Robinson.

Chatman Back At It

The Eagles desperately need scoring from other players on the roster to go along with Jerome Robinson. They also need a shooting threat for behind the three point line. Sophomore Jordan Chatman has been that guy from behind the line and a productive scorer in his minutes throughout most of the season until he hit a recent rough shooting stretch, going just 1-for-5 agaisnt Auburn from deep and missing his first 3-pointer earlier in the game, Chatman was able to find his shot once again. The BYU transfer buried back-to-back huge trey's late in the second half to slam the door shut on any thoughts of a Sacred Heart comeback.

Chatman did what any good shooter does, continued to trust his skill and kept shooting, while not forcing any poor shots throughout the mini slump.

Winning the "Hangover Game"

As a young team without a lot of winning experience, the Sacred Heart game could've been the perfect opportunity for the team to let up and under perform. But the Eagles came out and applied instant pressure on both ends of the floor and jumped out to an early double-digit lead.

At times in the second half BC struggled on offense, but the game never felt in doubt. Even when the Pioneers regained the lead for a short period of time the Eagles were able to step up and respond with big plays of their own to regain the lead, much like what they did in their win on Monday against Auburn at Madison Square Garden.

Any win is a good win, especially in a situation like the one Boston College was going into after such an emotional win on a big stage Monday night. The fact that BC was able to come away with a win, score 80-plus points, and play solid defense to force 21 turnovers are all good things. This team is finding ways to win games, which is all apart of the learning and growing process of rebuilding a college basketball program. Credit to the guys on the team for getting it done in their preparation and on the floor for 40 minutes on Sunday afternoon.

Bright Spots

The continued development of Nik Popovic is certainly a bright spot to take away from this game. When Popovic is healthy, and can play an extended amount of minutes to get into the flow of the offense, he's shown throughout the year that he can be productive. Although he hasn't been lucky in the health department this season, missing an extended period of time due to a vicious elbow to the face in the first half of the Kansas State game and again after take a serious hit to the sternum against Auburn, Popovic continues to work and develop on the floor. The 6-foot-11 freshman was clearly winded on Sunday afternoon as he played in his career-high in minutes (16) as Coach Christian mentioned after the game, "he struggles to play a lot of minutes right now because of the chest injury on Monday,". While on the floor for 12 minutes in the first half, Popovic made it look easy on offense, playing within the offense, and taking what came to him. When the ball would come to him in the post, Popovic did what we've seen him do many times this season by taking full advantage of his defender on his way to the rim. Popovic went in to half time with 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a blocked shot.

Another bright spot coming out of the Eagles win over Sacred Heart on Sunday afternoon was the team defense. Boston College used their intense defensive pressure to force the Pioneers into 15 first half turnovers, which led to 18 points off of those turnovers through the first 20 minutes of the game.

What the Win Means

After dropping back-to-back home games the Eagles have responded with back-to-back wins of their own. One coming against a talented Auburn Tigers team in the most prestigious basketball arena of all time. The Eagles have answered the challenge of the rough patch they went through the beginning of December and look to close out a tough month strong.

They will play a Fairfield Stags team that can score pretty well on Wednesday at another neutral site, then come back home on the 23rd to face-off against another one of their high-major rivals, in the Providence Friars who are playing really good basketball right now. If BC is able to continue to play defense like they have for the majority of December then they should have a chance at going into ACC play when the calendar flips to 2017 on a wining streak and feeling confident about themselves.