By Rich Manfredi - @PhillyOwl
Boston College gave us one of the first major upsets of the year on Saturday, taking down top-ranked Duke 89-84. Junior Jerome Robinson made a name for himself on the national stage, playing the role of the assassin for the Eagles. He drained five threes with no misses en route to a 24-point evening.
Teammate Ky Bowman got much of the praise in the big win, and yes, it was deserved… after all, he narrowly missed a triple double (30 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists). However, Robinson has been absolutely on fire as of late, which is especially impressive considering his rocky start to his season.
A 1/14 shooting performance against Sacred Heart on November 14th was the low point of Robinson’s sluggish start. A player who lives and dies with his jumper, he was hitting just 32.5% of his shots in Boston College’s first four games.
Something clicked internally for Robinson in the next game, an 82-61 thrashing of La Salle; he converted 8/14 of his shots and went 3/4 from downtown. Since then, the 6’6” guard who elicits thoughts of Klay Thompson on his catch-and-shoots has been absolutely on fire. Robinson is shooting 55.3% from beyond the arc in his last seven games.
You could feel the electricity in the building every time Robinson fielded a pass against Duke. Bowman is playing exceptional basketball as well, but he is playing the role of a (smaller) Rajon Rondo/Ben Simmons type as the jack-of-all-trades facilitator who can score if needed. Robinson is the purer scorer for BC.
At 5-2 in those last seven contests, it’s no coincidence that in the two losses, Robinson shot 25% and 35.3% from the field, respectively. Currently atop the ACC standings, it seems that if Robinson can maintain his hot hand, he (and the Eagles) won’t be leaving the spotlight anytime soon.
