GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Makai Ashton-Langford scored 16 points and Jaeden Zachery added 15 points and eight assists to lead Boston College over Louisville 80-62 on Tuesday in the first round of the ACC Tournament despite playing without leading scorer and rebounder Quinten Post.
Boston College coach Earl Grant said Monday that Post was day-to-day after injuring an ankle in a loss to Georgia Tech in the regular-season finale. The 7-foot Post didn’t dress for the game but the Eagles outscored the Cardinals by 21 points in the second half to prevail.
Post, who was voted the ACC’s Most Improved Player by the league’s head coaches and a select media panel, has scored 20 or more points six times and reached double figures 13 times in the 18 games he has played this season.
Tenth-seeded Boston College (16-16) will play seventh-seeded North Carolina (19-12) in the second round on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (ESPN2).
Prince Aligbe added 14 points and Devin McGlockton 11 for the Eagles.
El Ellis scored 16 points, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield 13 and JJ Traynor 12 for the 15th-seed Cardinals (4-28).
The Eagles outscored the Cardinals 18-6 over a nine-plus minute span to build a 63-51 lead with six minutes left after Mason Madsen scored five straight points. Boston College finished the final two minutes on a 11-2 run.
Louisville scored 10 straight points to tie it with 3 1/2 minutes left in the first half and completed the 19-6 run on a three-point play by Ellis and Huntley-Hatfield’s putback for a 34-31 lead at the break.
Tuesday Game 2 Notes
- UNC won the lone regular-season meeting versus BC on Jan. 17 by a 72-64 score in Chapel Hill.
- The Eagles, who advanced to the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament in Brooklyn before losing to Miami on a buzzer-beater, are now 13-17 all-time in the New York Life ACC Tournament and 6-8 in games played at the Greensboro Coliseum.
- Boston College improved to 3-8 versus the Cardinals in ACC play. The teams had not met in the ACC Tournament prior to Tuesday.
- Makai Ashton-Langford stepped up to lead the Cardinals in scoring with 16 points on Tuesday, reaching double figures for the 24th time in 51 career games. Point guard Jaeden Zackary handed out eight assists to set a career-high. He set his previous high of seven assists twice, most recently in the Eagles’ 75-65 win in Boston on Jan. 25.
- With his 16 points on Tuesday, Louisville senior guard El Ellis scored in double figures for the eighth consecutive game and the 27th time this season.
- Since the 1995-96 season, Louisville is 17-9 in its conference tournament openers, a span that covers tenures in C-USA, the Big East, the American Conference and the ACC. The Cardinals are now 5-3 in true first-round games, including a 1-1 mark in the ACC Tournament. Louisville won last year versus Georgia Tech in the opening round in Brooklyn.
- Louisville is now 3-7 overall in the ACC Tournament since joining the league.
- No. 10 seeds have now won eight first-round games in the ACC Tournament, including a 6-1 all-time mark versus No. 15 seeded teams.