Sim Series Games 11-15: What if Teddy Hawkins Never Tore His ACL?
We're using WhatIfSports.com to simulate the 2017-18 BC season to see if a healthy Eagles team could have made a run to the NCAA Tournament.
Series Note: Using the What If Sports engine, we are simulating BC’s 2017-18 season from the point where Deontae “Teddy” Hawkins tore his ACL. The Illinois State grad transfer will remain in the Eagles’ rotation the entire season, and we have set the target minutes for each player based on BC’s actual games with Hawkins in the lineup. We are releasing outcomes and recaps of BC’s simulate games (five at a time).
To learn more about this series, click here. Like it? Subscribe!
Part III Recap (Click here to read in full):
Richmond snapped Boston College men’s basketball’s five-game win streak, but the Eagles quickly rebounded with their second top-10 win of the season at No. 9 Virginia. Still, a narrow victory over Wake Forest was sandwiched between two losses to No. 25 Clemson and No. 20 North Carolina, the latter of which saw BC give up a season-high 109 points.
BC (12-5, 3-2 ACC) will get a much-needed break from conference play against Dartmouth. Then, it’s back to the gauntlet for Jim Christian and the Eagles. The ACC is just as unforgiving in this simulation as the league proves to be in real life. Read on to see how BC responds.
Jan. 13 vs. Dartmouth: BC 95, Dartmouth 63.
The Eagles got back on track at home with a dominant 32-point victory over the Big Green. The Ivy League foe never really stood a chance, especially not after BC used a 21-4 first-half run to establish a 30-13 lead. All five Eagles starters finished in double figures, with Ky Bowman (16 points, 10 rebounds) registering a double-double and Teddy Hawkins (13 points, nine rebounds) falling one board short of the same feat. BC, which shot 56.1 percent from the floor, added to its double-digit advantage in the final frame, and Vin Baker Jr. and Avery Wilson polished off the win in the waning minutes of play. Dartmouth was in too big of a hole to dig itself out of, and it sure didn’t help that the Big Green made just three of their 17 attempts from beyond the arc.
BC’s Sim Record: 13-5, 3-2 ACC
Jan. 15 vs. Florida State: BC 87, FSU 81.
BC’s win against Dartmouth was never in doubt. The same can’t be said for the Eagles’ victory over Florida State, a team that would make an unexpected run to the Elite Eight in 2017-18. BC and the Seminoles traded baskets in the early going before MJ Walker spearheaded an 11-0 FSU run that silenced Conte Forum. After a brief comeback, Walker, Phil Cofer, and Braian Angola—who combined for 43 points—restored the Seminoles’ double-digit advantage. FSU took a 41-33 lead into the break and remained ahead throughout the start of the second half.
Slowly but surely, however, the Eagles clawed their way back. A Hawkins 3-pointer, a Johncarlos Reyes layup, and a Jerome Robinson turnaround jumper made it a one-point game, and then a Robinson and-one knotted it all up at 56 with 10:58 remaining. Back-and-forth the ACC opponents went until Hawkins broke a 70-70 tie at the 3:08 mark. Nik Popovic received a no-look pass from Jordan Chatman and drilled a jumper to extend BC’s lead to five. And soon after that Chatman hit a contested 3-pointer. Cofer used back-to-back triples to pull within three points of the Eagles in the final minute, but BC held on for the win.
BC’s Sim Record: 14-5, 4-2 ACC
Jan. 21 @ Louisville: Louisville 79, BC 74.
Another eight-point come-from-behind victory wasn’t in store for the Eagles when they traveled to the KFC Yum! Center. BC surrendered its second consecutive ACC road game, despite Robinson, Bowman, and Chatman teaming up for 49 points and the Eagles—as a team—outrebounding Louisville, 45-32. Turnovers did BC in, as Christian’s team coughed up the ball 17 times in the loss. The Eagles actually jumped out to a 13-6 lead, with each of their five starters getting on the board in the opening six minutes of regulation.
Soon enough, Louisville’s balanced offensive attack started to click. David Padgett’s guys scored 14 of the last 20 points of the first half, and Ray Spalding led the charge. The Cardinals forward scored nine of his 11 points in the final 6:38 of the period, as Louisville entered intermission with a 40-32 lead. BC came out of halftime firing on all cylinders and even tied the game at 45, thanks to a Baker Jr. 3-pointer. Louisville pulled it together just in time to thwart BC’s comeback, and the duo of VJ King and Ryan McMahon pushed the Cardinals back into the driver’s seat. BC ended the game on a 17-6 scoring spurt, but it wasn’t enough to top the home team, which led by as many as 16 points in the second half.
BC’s Sim Record: 14-6, 4-3 ACC
Jan. 24 @ Syracuse: BC 67, Syracuse 56.
BC only shot 38.7 percent from the floor, but the trio of Robinson, Bowman, and Chatman—the only three Eagles to score in double figures—was all BC needed to earn its first victory in the Carrier Dome since the program’s upset win over the then-No. 1 Orange in February 2014. The Eagles stormed out of the gates by racking up 20 of the game’s first 26 points. Although Tyus Battle (15 points) and Frank Howard (11 points) found their mark toward the end of the period, BC walked into the locker room at halftime with a 39-25 advantage. It was more of the same in the back half of play. The teams battled on the glass, and the Eagles’ big men struggled inside, but their guards had enough firepower to get the job done.
BC’s Sim Record: 15-6, 5-3 ACC
Jan. 31 vs. Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech 94, BC 84.
Talk about a high-scoring first half. The Eagles and Hokies swapped baskets like they were playing a game of hot potato in the opening frame. That said, what it really was, was a game of runs. Popovic guided the Eagles to a 11-2 lead, only to see Kerry Blackshear Jr. and Virginia Tech answer with a 11-2 stretch of their own. This high-octane roller coaster continued throughout the period, but the final two minutes of the half consisted of BC and the Hokies going toe-to-toe with the score tied at 49 points apiece heading into intermission.
Ahmed Hill, who notched a team-high 22 points, and Justin Bibbs created a bit of separation for Virginia Tech in the early stages of the second half. Yet the Eagles didn’t go away, thanks to big-time buckets from Popovic (14 points), Hawkins (eight points), and Bowman (25 points). Up by just four with 8:30 to go, the Hokies reached back into their pocket for another 11-2 run. And this one all but put the game away, starting with a Hill 3-pointer and ending with a Nickeil Alexander-Walker triple. BC piled on some last-minute field goals, but Christian’s team had already lost the track meet.
BC’s Sim Record: 15-7, 5-4 ACC
What’s next?
While BC routed Dartmouth, came back against FSU, and won in the Carrier Dome for the first time in four years, the Eagles have lost four of their last seven ACC games. Still, at 15-7 (5-4 ACC), they remain on track for an at-large bid to the dance. Can BC make it a bit easier on the committee? Up next, the Eagles have Georgia Tech, Notre Dame (2x), Miami, and Pittsburgh.
Subscribe to see what happens.