CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Americans tend to think of the eagle as a strong, noble bird of prey. Powerful. Beautiful. A natural born hunter.
But if you know anything about ornithology -- or have read a biography of Benjamin Franklin -- you know that’s not quite reality. In the real world, hunting for your dinner is hard.
So the eagle gladly will take a free meal when it can get one. Roadkill, it seems, tastes just as good as fresh-caught prey.
Because of the blizzard that blanketed the Northeast from Monday night through Tuesday, No. 10 Louisville couldn’t fly in for Wednesday night's game in Conte Forum until Wednesday afternoon. And with a home rematch against No. 13 North Carolina looming, the Cardinals could have been forgiven for overlooking 9-9 Boston College.
BC entered the game just 1-5 in ACC play, with that one win coming by two points on the road at Georgia Tech. The Eagles hadn’t beaten a top-10 team since Feb. 2009 (Duke).
But Louisville coach Rick Pitino wouldn’t be caught unaware. He’d seen the trouble the Eagles had given Virginia a week and a half before.
“BC had them on the ropes,” Pitino said. “[Virginia coach] Tony Bennett told the announcers that Boston College was the toughest prep that he had this year. And then after watching six tapes of Boston College, I totally agree.”
Jim Christian’s Eagles don’t quit, and they don’t care where their meals come from.
So though the Cards were more athletic, more talented and more game-tested, the hosts never packed it in, even when the visitors went up by a touchdown or more -- as they did on more than one occasion.
Louisville shot 58 percent, yet there was BC just two points down thanks to an 11-3 run that started immediately after the Cards opened their first double-digit lead of the game.
Olivier Hanlan, BC’s top scorer, stepped to the foul line with a chance to tie the game at 62 with five minutes and change to play, really fire up the crowd, and maybe turn the Cards into roadkill.
But Hanlan clanged the first freebie, and when he rattled through the second it only cut the deficit to one.
And it wouldn’t stay there for long.
Terry Rozier, who’d been the main thorn in BC’s side all evening long, found Chris Jones with a swing pass and the senior swished a 3-pointer. And after BC couldn’t convert on the other end, Jones did it again -- hitting from the corner to inflate the cushion to seven again and take all the air out from under BC’s wings.
“It was 62-61 and Jones, who’s a phenomenal player, stepped up and hit back-to-back 3's,” Christian said. “That’s what he does and that’s what their team does -- that’s why they’re the No. 10 team in the nation, because they make those plays without hesitation.”
The Eagles, who’d answered every earlier run their ranked opponent made, wouldn’t get closer than five the rest of the way in Louisville’s 81-72 win.
Aaron Brown’s 28 points -- tied for the game high with Jones -- kept BC in the game. The fifth-year transfer said he was proud of his team’s effort, but the Eagles still need to learn how to lock in down the stretch and win games like this.
Deflating as Jones’ big shots were, Brown knew what they needed to do to overcome it.
“It’s every player’s dream to play at the level that we’re playing at, in the ACC, the best league in the country, against ranked teams every night,” Brown said. “Like Coach says, ‘Just ball out.’ If you’re not excited for a game like that, you’re playing the wrong sport.”
Pitino, coaching his first game in Boston (well, near Boston) since his days with the Celtics a lifetime ago, praised the Cards’ vanquished foe.
“I don’t say this because I recruited Jimmy or because he went to my high school,” he said. “I’m not patronizing him in any way. This young man’s gonna be a tremendous coach. His offensive scheme is off the charts. They do things offensively that great teams don’t do. They isolate you well. They know where to go and who to go at. They move the basketball great, they slip screens.
“They are a nightmare to guard. Fortunately for us, we played great offense also.”
Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.