Belmont Bruins vs Boston College Eagles Match Player Stats On Nov 16, 2019

Adam Kunkel scored a career-high 35 points and visiting Belmont used an impressive 3-point shooting display to dominate the second half en route to a 100-85 victory over Boston College on Saturday afternoon.

After scoring 28 points Monday against Samford, Kunkel was even better in helping Belmont (2-1) dominate the second half of its first meeting with Boston College. He shot 10-of-20 from the field, made 5 of 9 3-pointers and hit all 10 of his free-throw attempts.

Nick Hopkins added 15 points while hitting four 3-pointers as the Bruins shot 53.2 percent from the field and hit 57.7 percent (15 of 26) from 3-point range. Second-leading scorer Nick Muszynski did not start due to oversleeping for the early morning shootaround and added 13 as Belmont outscored Boston College 51-40 after halftime.

The Bruins scored 100 points for the first time against a Power Five opponent and also notched the Ohio Valley Conference's second all-time win against an ACC school. The other was Belmont's 83-80 win at North Carolina on Nov. 17, 2013.

Nik Popovic scored 23 points for Boston College (3-1), which was denied its first 4-0 start since the 2007-08 season. Popovic shot 8 of 11 percent and ended the game eight shy of 1,000 career points.

Derryck Thornton added 15 but also played through a right ankle injury as Boston College shot 55.9 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3-point range.

Thornton was injured with about nine minutes remaining in the first half when he appeared to turn his ankle while defending Kunkel near the 3-point line.

A competitive first half featured 11 lead changes and eight ties and Belmont took a 49-45 lead on a layup by Kunkel with one second left. Belmont shot 54.8 percent in the competitive opening 20 minutes while Boston College clicked at 61.3 percent.

Belmont continued to shoot well and opened the half with a 13-6 run to take a 62-51 lead on a transition 3-pointer by Michael Benkert with 16:49 left.

The lead expanded to 71-54 on a 3-pointer by Hopkins with 14:12 remaining, turned into the club's first 20-point lead at 74-54 on an uncontested 3-pointer by Kunkel less than a minute later before the Bruins opened a 79-54 cushion on another 3-pointer by Hopkins with 12:06 left.

--Field Level Media