Freshman guard Wynston Tabbs scored 10 straight Boston College points down the stretch to rally the Eagles for a 65-62 victory over DePaul on Saturday afternoon in Chicago.
The Eagles (9-2) didn't earn their first lead until Tabbs swiped an errant inbounds pass and sank two free throws with 34.8 seconds to play.
Junior forward Nik Popovic led the visitors with 19 points, including two free throws with 3 seconds left. Tabbs added 15 points while junior guard Ky Bowman contributed 11 points and 8 rebounds.
DePaul (8-3), which saw its eight-game home winning streak come to a close, received 16 points and 9 rebounds from senior forward Max Strus and 14 points from senior guard Eli Cain. The Blue Demons shot just 36.6 percent from the field - epitomized by Strus' 7 of 22 showing.
Cain buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give DePaul a 10-5 lead and force Boston College to take a timeout just 2:18 into the game. The Eagles shot just 5 of 19 with 4 turnovers in the opening 10 minutes as DePaul raced out to a 22-11 lead.
Boston College pulled within 32-28 at halftime as both teams' touches turned icy. The Eagles shot 35 percent and DePaul canned 32 percent from the field.
Boston College spent most of the second half getting close to DePaul - only to fall short.
The Eagles pulled within 45-43 on freshman forward Jairus Hamilton's layup with 9:52 to go. The Eagles then had two possessions to take their first lead of the day, but the Blue Demons forced a miss and a turnover and then rebuilt their lead.
The Eagles snuck within 1 point again, 56-55, on Tabbs' jumper with 3:04 to go, but the Blue Demons answered again. Graduate transfer forward Femi Olujobi swished a 15-foot turnaround jumper, then Strus swiped a pass and flew in for a powerful two-handed dunk in traffic to restore the margin to 60-55.
But Boston College didn't surrender. Tabbs stole an errant inbounds pass, flew down the court and drew a foul as he tried to dunk with 34.8 seconds to go. He hit both free throws to give the Eagles their first lead. Strus' 3-pointer with five seconds left rimmed out to tie, then he missed a half-court fling at the buzzer.
--Field Level Media
Boston College | DePaul | |
Nik Popovic 19 | Scoring | Max Strus 16 |
Wynston Tabbs 4 | Assists | Devin Gage 4 |
Steffon Mitchell 9 | Rebounds | Paul Reed 11 |
Nik Popovic 5 | Free Throws Made | Eli Cain 2 |
Wynston Tabbs 3 | Steals | Jaylen Butz 2 |
Ky Bowman 1 | Blocks | Eli Cain 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Boston College | 65 | 40.0 | 3-18 | 10-13 | 10 | 33 | 4 | 9 | 16 |
DePaul | 62 | 36.6 | 4-24 | 6-8 | 14 | 45 | 6 | 9 | 17 |