Harvard hands BC another basketball loss

In his first two seasons, Jim Christian managed to avoid losing to Harvard. That changed Wednesday night as the Crimson beat BC 74-66. Harvard built a big lead early. BC chipped away a bit in the second half, but couldn't close the deal in the final minutes.

This Harvard team is better than their last two teams, but this is not one of Amaker's best. This was a winnable game and Christian should have had the guys playing better. Especially on D. Also, where is the supposed speed that he was preaching in the preseason?

It is still early in the year and this team is still young, but I am starting to worry. The transfers don't really seem like ACC caliber players. That leaves a huge burden on the young guys.

Hockey beats Harvard

4-1 Final ... pic.twitter.com/CFHGhvJXiq

— BC Hockey (@BCHockeyNews) March 26, 2016

BC started strong and built an early lead. When it felt like BC was going to put the Crimson away, Harvard scored and managed to change the momentum. But that would be it. Harvard pulled their goalie really early in an attempt to cut the lead, but BC added an empty netter to close it out. BC now faces Minnesote-Duluth, who beat Providence in OT.

BC wins Beanpot Opener

Given that this was the best Harvard team BC has faced in a Beanpot Opener, getting a win is a major positive. Throw in a BC comeback and winning with a very thin list of Goalie, a 3-2 victory feels good.

Casey Fitzgerald started off the scoring. Sanford tied it up and then White scored BC's go ahead goal. Demko saved 21 shots.

BC will face the winner of Northeastern and BU for the Championship next Monday.

Hockey get crucial win in Beanpot Consolation game

Normally I don't care about the Beanpot Consolation/3rd place game. If we don't win the whole thing, most BC fans rationalize the Beanpot as an unimportant non-league tournament. Monday night BC finally wrapped up its delayed 2015 Beanpot with a OT win over Harvard. And it was a win BC had to have. This team is very bubbly and needed another W with regards to ranking and resume. Now the must-win games shift to the series against Notre Dame. We always want to beat the Irish, but this year the team needs the wins to help keep the post-season thoughts alive.

Hallelujah!

Our long national nightmare is over. Well maybe that is a little much. Our long losing streak to Harvard is finally over. BC nearly blew it again, but forced OT and then pulled away in the extra five minutes. It wasn't a fun game or clean game, but there were some positives. Here are a few other thoughts:

-- Improvement in atmosphere. Based on the ESPN3 feed it felt like the Conte crowd was into the game. Some of it was surely Harvard fans, but having the students back in campus also helped. Conte is not going to become Cameroon Indoor any time soon, but I think support and noise will energize the team and create some momentum.

-- Terrible Free Throws again. This wouldn't have gone to OT or even been close if BC improved its foul shooting. There are ways to improve it (see UConn under Ollie). Let's hope Christian tries something new.

-- Better Defense from Clifford. Earlier in the year he was coming to far out on pick and rolls and had trouble recovering. Now he's moving much better (although he was slow in OT). This will help our overall D.

Things don't get easier with UVA on the way, but at least we can now focus on ACC teams instead of Ivies. 

BC needs to beat Harvard

The first public inkling that Gene might fire Al Skinner came after a loss to Harvard. Donahue reached one of his lowest points in a loss to Harvard. Wednesday night is Jim Christian's first shot at our Ivy League nemesis. The game means nothing in terms of ACC play, but it is very important for Jim Christian with regards to setting expectations going forward.

Despite their respectable record, this Harvard team is not as good as some of their more recent squads. The Crimson are favored but we have the talent to hang with them. Once again Hanlan will be the best player on the court and we have enough size to give them trouble at other positions.

Winning this game would snap the losing streak and show that Christian's guys are still on board and still competing. It would also begin to change perception locally among BC fans and casual basketball fans. Harvard had a nice run, but now BC is getting things back in order.

BC wins Beanpot opener

After a tight first period, BC scored to go up 1-0 going into the first break. From there we controlled defeating Harvard 4-1. BC will now face...NORTHEASTERN in the Finals next Monday. Yes, you read that correctly, BU lost in the first game. Too bad. 

I wanted to note that the students really came through tonight. It was referenced on twitter, but you could see and hear it on the NESN feed. They were loud and ready to cheer. Let's keep it going next week in the Finals.

The most random clip of Linsanity you'll ever see

I went looking for video of Jeremy Lin's coming out party against BC from 2009 and found the clip below. I don't speak Portuguese but I am guessing these are two Brazilians tourists visiting Boston and deciding to see a BC-Harvard game. At 1:35 in the clip Lin drives by Reggie Jackson and the girls seem to give a brief clap. At 2:27 Lin leads a nice pick and roll that results in his teammate (the guy cutting to the basket) for an easy lay up. The BC crowd is tense. After all losing to Jeremy Lin wouldn't become acceptable for another three years. The Brazilians don't seem to care much. Little did they know they were documenting the first stages of Linsanity.