Notre Dame 87, Boston College 70

BOSTON — Bonzie Colson made the most of his homecoming on Saturday.

The freshman forward, a New Bedford, Mass. native, finished with a team-high 16 points and six rebounds off the bench as No. 10-ranked Notre Dame swept the hardwood edition of the Holy War with a 87-70 victory over Boston College in front of a pro-Irish crowd at Conte Forum.

Notre Dame (24-4, 12-3 in the ACC) tied a program record for the best 15-game start in conference play. The Irish have won four of five games in February.

Boston College (9-17, 1-13) has lost seven in a row and is winless in seven ACC home games.

Junior forward Zach Auguste, a Marlborough, Mass., native, also made an impact in his return to the Bay State, scoring 14 points, while senior guard/forward Pat Connaughton, who is Notre Dame’s leading scorer and was born in Arlington, Mass., had eight points.

Senior guard Jerian Grant totaled 10 points and 11 assists, and sophomore guard Demetrius Jackson added 15 points for Notre Dame, which lived up to its reputation of one of the country’s best shooting teams, making 66.0 percent of its shots (35-of-53).

Graduate forward Aaron Brown led the Eagles with 22 points. Junior guard Olivier Hanlan contributed 19 points and junior center Dennis Clifford scored 17 for Boston College.

After trailing by nine twice in the opening 20 minutes, the Eagles crawled to within 45-41 with 15:26 to play, but that was as close as they would come in the half.

The local trio of Auguste, Connaughton, and Colson gave the hometown fans a taste of what they were missing, teaming up to score 23 of Notre Dame’s 37 points in the first half.

With the game tied, 7-7, the Fighting Irish used a 9-0 run to open up their biggest lead of the opening half. The Eagles pulled to within 26-25 with 5:18 to go in the half.

Notre Dame built its advantage back up to nine before settling for a five-point halftime lead.

Colson had 12 points and five rebounds in the first half to lead the Irish. Auguste scored eight and Grant had seven assists for Notre Dame, which shot 58.6 percent (17-29) before the break.

Hanlan scored 11 points in the first half and Aaron Brown chipped in 10 points for Boston College.

The Irish bench scored 17 points in the half while the Eagles’ reserves were held scoreless.

NOTES: No. 10-ranked Notre Dame moved to 15-10 in the all-time series against Boston College with its fifth straight win over the Eagles. The Fighting Irish won both meetings this season, also winning 71-63 on Feb. 4. … Three Notre Dame players are from Massachusetts — G/F Pat Connaughton (Arlington, Mass.), F Zach Auguste (Marlborough, Mass.), and F Bonzie Colson (New Bedford, Mass.). Colson’s father, Bonzie Sr., was on the Eagles’ coaching staff from 2001-10. … Coming into Saturday, the Irish ranked second in the nation in field goal percentage (50.8 percent). … Eagles G Olivier Hanlan led the ACC in scoring entering play, averaging 18.6 points per game. He scored 30 or more points in three of his last five games. … Boston College boasted the fourth-best free throw percentage in the ACC prior to tip-off (69.7 percent). … Notre Dame hosts Syracuse on Tuesday. Boston College faces host Pittsburgh on Tuesday.