Ryan Anderson had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the Boston College attack, but the Eagles fell short against 18th-ranked UConn, 72-70, on Thursday night in the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden.
The Eagles (1-4) trailed by 11 points with 12:51 to play but closed to with in a point with 42 seconds remaining after two free throws by Olivier Hanlan (19 points). After Shabazz Napier (20 points) hit 1-of-2 free throws for UConn (5-0), Hanlan had a chance to tie the game, but his driving layup was too strong off the backboard.
Ryan Boatright hit a pair of free throws to make it a four-point game, but Hanlan drilled a 3-pointer with three seconds left to cut it to one. After Napier hit 1-of-2 free throws, BC had one more chance to tie or win. However, Lonnie Jackson‘s 3-point bid was blocked by Boatright just before the buzzer.
UConn’s Deandre Daniels led all scorers with 23 points.
• In other action Thursday, Northeastern rallied from an 14-point deficit to beat Georgetown, 63-56, in the Puerto Rico Tip Off in San Juan.
Reggie Spencer had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Scott Eatherton contributed 12 points and 10 boards for the Huskies (2-2), who used a 14-0 run to tie the score at 40 midway through the second half. The Huskies led for the first time at 48-46 after a dunk by Derrico Peck with 6:29 remaining.
Georgetown (1-2) came back to take a three-point lead, but the Huskies closed the game on a 12-2 run.
• UMass used a balanced attack to post a 96-90 victory over Nebraska in the Charleston (S.C). Classic. Derrick Gordon scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half to lead five Minutemen (4-0) in double figures.