GREENSBORO, N.C. — Makai Ashton-Langford scored 16 points and Jaeden Zachery added 15 points and eight assists to lead Boston College over Louisville 80-62 on Tuesday in the first round of the ACC Tournament despite playing without leading scorer and rebounder Quinten Post.
Boston College coach Earl Grant said Monday that Post was day-to-day after injuring an ankle in a loss to Georgia Tech in the regular-season finale. Post, a 7-footer who was voted the conference's most improved player, didn't dress for the game but the Eagles outscored the Cardinals by 21 in the second half to prevail.
Tenth-seeded Boston College (16-16) will play seventh-seeded North Carolina in the second round on Wednesday.
Prince Aligbe added 14 points and Devin McGlockton 11 for the Eagles.
El Ellis scored 16 points, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield 13 and JJ Traynor 12 for the 15th-seed Cardinals (4-28).
The Eagles outscored the Cardinals 18-6 over a nine-plus minute span to build a 63-51 lead with six minutes left after Mason Madsen scored five straight points. Boston College finished the final two minutes on a 11-2 run.
Boston College outrebounded the Cardinals 40-29, including 14-7 on the offensive boards for a 17-5 edge in second-chance points. The Eagles also had a 40-26 edge in the paint.
Louisville scored 10 straight points to tie it with 3 1/2 minutes left in the first half and completed the 19-6 run on a three-point play by Ellis and Huntley-Hatfield's putback for a 34-31 lead at the break.
The Eagles won the regular-season meeting 75-65 on Jan. 25 with Post scoring 22 points to lead Boston College.