Upstart BC gets shot at No. 19 Clemson (Mar 07, 2018)

NEW YORK -- Boston College has reached the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament for the first time in five years where it will face No. 19 Clemson at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday.

The Eagles (19-14) upended North Carolina State, 91-87, in overtime on Wednesday to advance. Jerome Robinson, the ACC's leading scorer, tossed in 26 points and Ky Bowman had 24 for the 12th-seeded Eagles.

With 24 points, Bowman reached double figures in scoring for the seventh consecutive game and the 31st time in 33 games this season. The ACC's sixth-leading scorer went 6-for-6 from the foul line to key the Eagles' 16-of-19 effort there.

Boston College was selected to finish 14th in the pre-season conference poll. Clemson (22-8) was picked 13th. The Eagles will be playing their third game in as many days. Clemson has been off since its regular-season finale loss to Syracuse on Saturday.

"This is March basketball," said Eagles coach Jim Christian. "This is what it's about. That's what these guys live for. We're going to get as much rest as we can; we have sports massage with us; we have every medical thing we could have with us to us get ourselves ready, but it's really more mental than anything else.

"Let's just get confident, let's stay confident, and I'm sure they're excited to play. They're playing for a lot of great things, and they've had a tremendous season. It's going to be an unbelievable challenge, but we're going to have to step up and play with the same kind of confidence we played with today."

Clemson earned a double-bye in the tournament for the first time in program history.

"I think Jim Christian's done a great job. I think their perimeter players are dynamite," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "I thought Jerome Robinson was the best player in our league in terms of productivity this year for 18 games. He and Ky Bowman, (Jordan) Chatman I think are outstanding.

"There are so many good teams that it's hard to separate yourself. We have great coaching, unbelievable talent and good home environments (in the ACC). Going 9-9 in this league is really good. It's difficult to be highly successful in this league.

"Obviously this league is a monster every year. It's remarkable to have this many teams this good all the time. It makes for great basketball."

The Tigers have plenty of firepower to make a deep run in the ACC Tournament. Junior guard Marcquise Reed was named to the ACC second team after averaging a team-high 16.3 points on 38 percent shooting from the 3-point line, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in his first season as a starter for the Tigers.

The 6-foot-3 Reed is one of the main reasons the Tigers continued to thrive after losing Donte Grantham to a torn ACL.

Elijah Thomas earned All-Defensive Team honors after averaging a career-high 2.3 blocks and 7.8 rebounds per game -- 5.6 of which coming on the defensive end. He also averaged a career-high 10.7 points per game.