Everything from Earl Grant after loss to Davidson
In the the first game of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic, BC fell to Davidson 59-49 on Friday.
The Eagles (3-3) shot just 39% from the field (19-49) and 14% from three (3-21). BC went 8-14 from the free throw line and had 14 turnovers. The Davidson (5-0) bench outscored the BC bench 33-5. Donald Hand Jr. had 14 points and four four rebounds. Jayden Hastings had 11 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Fred Payne added 10 points and four rebounds.
The Eagles entered this game shooting 40.3% (No. 323 in the country out of 361 teams), 24.3% from beyond the arc (No. 351) and 63.5% from the line (No. 323).
Here’s everything Earl Grant had to say postgame:
On what Davidson did in the 2nd half to pull away
“I thought, first of all, Davidson did a great job in the middle of the second half. It’s a possession game. I thought their bigs on the inside delivered a few times around the basketball to kind of separate the game. It was a one-possession game and then their guards controlled the game. They executed a little bit better than us. So, when the game is that tight and that close, I think it was always a one or two possession game, till about nine minutes left. I thought in a two minute period they were better executing and better finishing around the basket.
“So, you’ve got to give them credit.”
On defending a 3-point shooting team
“In their last couple of games they made 10 threes. They’ve been averaging 80 points, so, 59 points is unbelievable, for us to be able to hold them down like that. So, there was a lot of effort on the defensive side of the ball. Again, it’s a make-miss game. We didn’t make a lot of perimeter threes and I thought their guards controlled the game in the middle of the second half.
“Kind of made it a two-possession game and turned it into a four possession game. It’s a two minute patch. I think we turned it over one time against a 1-2-2 and it went to five. Then, a couple possessions they executed better and made some shots and it got to nine and stayed at nine.”
On importance of early season non-conference games and bouncing back to get ready for ACC play down the road
“I think every game is important. But, again, there is a thing called growth. There’s a process, there’s a journey, there’s…you can get better. So, specifically having a lot of new guys, I would imagine we can get better. So, as we continue to play the non-conference games, certainly we want to win them, but we want to get better and continue to grow. Be able to execute at the highest level we can and continue to defend the way we capable of.”
On how the team can grow from games like this
“I think the biggest thing has been just on the defensive side of the ball, we’ve been able to really defend at a high level. Offensively, we haven’t made a lot of perimeter shots. So, again, it’s a make-miss game. So, you know, I think it’s a situation, we’ve got to continue to try and execute and yield the highest quality shots we can for our personnel. I think we continue to build on defense and find different combinations with our roster that can give us the best opportunity to sustain our defense, but at the same time, be able to score more points. You’ve got to score more points than the opponent to win, right? So, that’s what we gotta do.
“Maintain the defense and figure out the rotations that can help us, or the rosters that can help us be efficient offensively as well.”
On being back in a familiar place/arena (Charleston)
“Well, it felt great. It felt awkward, a little bit. I hadn’t coached in the building other than with the team here (in Charleston). We had a lot of success in this building. Didn’t lose much in this building, so to be back in the building was very interesting. It was surreal. So, it was good to be back. I’m glad we get to play another game here. Give us a chance to go back and play better, but it did feel really good to be in this building. I wish we could have played better.”
