Chase Forte & Fred Payne on loss to Cal
BC dropped to 9-16 overall and 2-10 in the ACC on Saturday with a loss at home against Cal.
With an announced crowd of just over 2,000 and the student section primarily empty at tipoff, it’s clear that the interest in the program has never been lower. That isn’t technically the players’ fault, as it’s been this way for the majority of my adult life (I was a sophomore in college the last time they made the tourney), but the collective product that the program regularly puts on the floor simply isn’t good enough.
As of Sunday morning, BC sits in 16th place, out of the ACC tournament with six games remaining. The Eagles are on the road against FSU (12-13, 5-7) and SMU (17-8, 6-6) this week. Poor shooting has been the theme for most of the season despite playing solid defense in just about every game. The Eagles went 10-28 from the field in the first half (3-13 from three) before a much-better second half, finishing the game at 48% (29-60), but still just 8-22 (36%) from three. BC also committed 12 turnovers.
Payne finished with 16 points while Forte had 14. Luka Toews and Jayden Hastings both added 12, Hastings had eight rebounds.
Here’s what Payne and Forte had to say after the 86-75 loss to Cal:
Forte
On not turning the ball over early in the game
“Just making the right reads, making better decisions coming off screens that we ran…you have to find the short roll or make the skip pass and make smart decisions.”
On what the Cal defense did early to stifle the offense (BC trailed 43-28 at halftime)
“I don’t really think it was necessarily them, I just think we missed shots. We got great looks, the turnovers kind of wore us down. I feel like the second half, we just found our rhythm, we made more shots and just calmed down a little bit.”
On if anything changed offensively in the second half schematically
“I just feel like we were hitting shots. As I said, in the first half, we were getting open looks, the shot just wasn’t falling. Their shots were. But, second half, they kind of went zone too, which kind of opened up the wings. So, I feel like that’s why we made a lot of shots in the second half.”
Payne
On if there’s pressure on him & Forte with Donald Hand Jr. being out
“Not really, no pressure at all. You just play the same game. Obviously, one of our best players is out, but you got to go out there and produce. So, nah, not really, no pressure on us.”
