Fred Payne scores 24 points and Boston College defeats Notre Dame 77-69

By Canadian Press on March 7, 2026.

BOSTON (AP) — Fred Payne scored 24 points, Boston College rallied late in the second half, and the Eagles defeated Notre Dame 77-69 on Saturday, the last day of the ACC regular season.

The win moved Boston College (11-20, 4-14 ACC) into position to possibly take 15th place in the ACC standings but the Eagles were denied later in the day when Pittsburgh defeated Syracuse to take the last of the 15 spots in the conference tournament.

Notre Dame (13-18, 4-14) and Boston College finished tied for 16th place.

Boston College, which hadn’t led since it was 19-17 with 8 1/2 minutes left in the first half, surged in front 61-53 at the end of an 11-0 run with 5 1/2 minutes left in the game. The Eagles extended their lead to 65-56 with three minutes remaining.

The second of back-to-back three-point plays by Jalen Haralson got the Fighting Irish within four points with 1:16 to go, but Boston College wrapped it up by making seven free throws in the final minute.

Boston College made 31 of 41 free-throw attempts, and Notre Dame made 14 of 21 from the line.

Chase Forte scored 14, Jayden Hastings 12 and Boden Kapke 11 for Boston College.

Haralson, a freshman, scored 21 points, and Brady Koehler had the second double-double of his freshman season with 11 rebounds and 10 points for Notre Dame. Shrewsberry scored 14 points, and Cole Certa added 10.

Shrewsberry buried three 3-pointers in the first half, and Notre Dame led 33-30 at the break. Boston College did not make a shot in the final nine minutes of the half, missing 13 in a row.

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The Associated Press

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