Boston College Eagles building back towards ACC respectability behind Jerome Robinson

The Boston College Eagles men’s basketball team has been playing better in 2017-18, in large part due to the play of Jerome Robinson.

ACC basketball is a gauntlet of teams on its best day, a minefield at its worst. One pinnacle victory over Duke for the Boston College Eagles isn’t enough with teams like North Carolina, Virginia and Miami lurking in the shadows.

The conference was deep long before expansion occurred in the mid-00’s. Now, six ACC teams populate the AP top-25. For a Boston College team who has only placed as high as third since joining the conference in ’05/06, the climb to respectability as been an inconsistent one.

In 2017-18, the Eagles aren’t exactly blazing trails but they are starting to turn heads. A victory over Duke to start ACC play was recently followed by narrow losses to ranked foes Virginia (59-58) and Clemson (74-70). Start turning those games into wins, Boston College can pick up steam and maybe find themselves in the upper tier of the middle of the pack.

Much of the credit for this season’s success can be attributed to junior guard Jerome Robinson.

Scoring points in bunches

Robinson has scored 57 points over the last two games while playing all 80 minutes. He’s shooting 57.5% (23-40) from the field in this span to go along with 50% from beyond the arc. Thru three conference games, Robingson is currently leading the ACC by averaging 27 ppg.

Overall this season, Robinson averages 18.1 ppg, scoring 20 points or more in seven games. He’s been held under 10 points only twice, occurring in the season’s first two games.

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Robinson’s 29 points against Virginia were a season-high, falling three short of his career mark.

Playing .500 ball in conference play would get the Eagles to 18 wins, their best showing since racking up 21 in the 2010-11 season. For that to happen, Robinson will need to continue to get help from the likes of Ky Bowman and Jordan Chatman (and then some).

Short bench for the Boston College Eagles

Bowman, a sophomore, is doing a little bit of everything for the Eagles. He is second in points (16 ppg) while pulling down boards (6.9 rpg) and dishing out dimes (5.1)

Chatman, a junior, is also representing well in the scoring department with 13.6 ppg.

Joining with Robinson, the three of them have formed quite the trio. A lot has been placed on their shoulders and their success and failure can be traced to the results in the win-loss column.

This is not to say the games aren’t a team effort. Often times, especially in close games, it’s likely only seven players see action. The bench was made even shorter when graduate Deontae Hawkins was lost in early December with a season-ending knee injury.

Hawkins was the team’s leading rebounder before the injury. He was the only senior/graduate on the roster of 16, 11 of which are underclassmen.

Robinson, Bowman, and Chatman have all been close to outstanding over the past month. Contributions from at least one more player will be needed if the Eagles are to make a run towards a postseason tournament.

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For now, focusing on the next game is on the radar. Robinson is on a roll and his next target is Wake Forest. And don’t look too far. North Carolina is lurking only a few days behind.

ACC basketball: where every game is a matter of survival.