Harris' 28 points leads Nicholls State past BC 79-73

BOSTON (AP) Nicholls State players jumped up and down near center court at the final buzzer and their cheers could be heard from the locker room halfway down the hall.

They had a reason to be feeling good.

DeAndre Harris scored 28 points, Liam Thomas added 14 and coach Richie Riley won his debut as the Colonels stunned an Atlantic Conference Coast team on the road, beating Boston College 79-73 on Friday night in the opener for both schools.

''I don't think you can draw it up any better to be able to come up here and compete like our guys did,'' Riley said, breaking into a smile and standing in a lobby with his players' cheers heard in the background.

Nicholls State was just a combined 35-57 in the past three seasons, but a starting lineup of all seniors took control from the start.

''I'm going to let them enjoy it tonight, especially in the locker room because Nicholls - our seniors - have had some rough seasons,'' Riley said.

Boston College, which never led and was behind by 14 with just over nine minutes to play, went on a 19-5 run to tie it on A.J. Turner's foul-line jumper with 2:26 to play. Harris had a driving basket on the next possession and Nicholls State went on a 6-0 run to take control.

Ty Graves scored 15 points for the Eagles, while Jerome Robinson had 14 and Turner finished with 12.

Boston College didn't get its first basket until nearly seven minutes in and was behind 16-1 before Jordan Chatman hit a driving basket. The Colonels led 42-33 at halftime.

''I think without question the most frustrating thing is we've practiced so much better than we played tonight,'' BC coach Jim Christian said. ''It was just really sad.''

Riley spent the past two seasons as Clemson's assistant before becoming the Colonels' 11th coach in April.

BIG PICTURE

Nicholls State: Picked last in the preseason Southland Conference poll, the Colonels likely gained confidence playing well against an ACC team. The starting lineup of all seniors should help in early-season games as teams try to get the rust off.

Boston College: Coming off a winless ACC season (0-18) in 2015-16 and 7-25 overall, the Eagles may be challenged to find many victories again this season. Judging by the light home crowd, it'll take some exciting play to get folks to fill the arena - except for strong conference foes coming into Conte Forum.

THAT SUMS IT UP

''We didn't translate anything we worked on into the game offensively or defensively - it was ridiculous,'' Christian said.

TOO EASY

Seemingly every time Nicholls State needed a key basket, it was able to get to the paint for good looks. The Colonels outscored BC, 42-30, in the lane.

Harris was 10 for 20 from the floor, driving past BC defenders a handful of times for easy baskets.

UGLY START

BC missed its first eight shots and committed five turnovers before getting its first basket.

''The first 10 minutes of the game, we probably didn't do one thing we practiced,'' Christian said.

UP NEXT

Nicholls State: At Central Florida on Monday in a stretch of four of the first five on the road - including the San Diego Classic.

Boston College: Hosts Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday in the second of four consecutive home matchups.