Boston College Eagles Guard Olivier Hanlan Stellar Despite Team's Woeful Season

The ACC has multiple teams that only feature one main scoring threat. North Carolina State (T.J. Warren) and Clemson (K.J. McDaniels) immediately come to mind. But the similar trait in both of those teams is that they are at least competitive. Both teams are 6-5 in the conference and have eight overall losses, so they entered the final month of the regular season with at least a spot on the NCAA tournament bubble.

Boston College has a similar profile to Clemson and N.C. State when it comes to team construction. Guard Olivier Hanlan is really the lone weapon for the Eagles, but the major difference for Boston College is even with Hanlan having a decent season, the Eagles haven’t been able to remain competitive. On Thursday afternoon, in a makeup game at Georgia Tech (13-12, 4-8 ACC) that was originally scheduled for Wednesday night but was postponed due to an ice storm, the Eagles appeared to have a win in the bag thanks to Hanlan. Instead, Boston College completely forgot how to play defense and lost in almost comical fashion to the Yellow Jackets, 74-71, in Atlanta.

Hanlan finished with a game-high 21 points, including nine of Boston College’s final 19 points. Hanlan’s basket with three seconds left gave the Eagles (6-18, 2-9 ACC) a one-point lead at 71-70. Surely Boston College could defend for three seconds right? Nope. Georgia Tech’s Marcus Georges-Hunt hit a three-pointer with less than a second to play, he was fouled by Eagles guard Lonnie Jackson. Georges-Hunt hit the free throw, converting a rare buzzer-beating four-point play to send Boston College to another loss.

Boston College’s futility for the season might have been summed up Thursday against Georgia Tech when you consider Hanlan led the Eagles (tied with Eddie Odio) with four rebounds. Boston College had a mere 19 rebounds in the entire game.

Hanlan has scored in double figures in all but two games this season, yet the Eagles have only found a way to win six games total. Hanlan had to score a season-high 38 points early in the year just so the Eagles could beat Florida International by three points (82-79).

Hanlan is a quality player who is worth watching whenever Boston College is on TV, but watching the rest of the Eagles play has to be difficult for even the most ardent of Boston College fans.

Ed Morgans is an ACC Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @writered21 and add him to your network on Google.