BOSTON (AP) Boston College coach Jim Christian knows he'll learn a lot more about his young team in a few days.
Matt Milon hit four 3-pointers and finished with 16 and Eli Carter overcame a rough start to score 15 as Boston College beat Harvard 69-56 on Sunday afternoon.
The Eagles (3-0) are off to their best start since winning their first three games in 2008-09 when then-coach All Skinner's team finished 22-12. Dennis Clifford added 12 rebounds for the Eagles.
Now, the Eagles take that nice start into their first test of the season, facing No. 13 Michigan State on Thursday. Christian knows his team can't have another rough first half.
''It's three games into the year,'' he said. ''We've just got to get incrementally better. We've got to start to put 40 minutes together, especially with what we're staring at Thanksgiving Day. I'm not talking about the turkey, either.''
The Eagles pulled away from the Crimson Sunday despite shooting woes from their leading-scorer Carter, who was just 3 of 14 from the field.
Milon and Ervins Meznieks picked up the slack, with Meznieks nailing three 3s and scoring 12. Milon shot 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.
''I thought in the second half they really got their offense going and shot the ball well from the 3,'' Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said.
BC shot 7 of 14 on 3s in the second half.
''When you see that first shot go in your confidence goes up tremendously,'' Milon said.
Zena Edosomwan led the Crimson (1-3) with 20 points and nine rebounds. Tommy McCarthy added 13 points.
Trailing 29-28, the Eagles went on a 12-2 run over the ensuing three minutes to grab the lead for good. Milon hit a pair of 3s during the spree.
BC pushed its lead to 52-42 on Milon's driving basket with 7 1/2 minutes left and was never threatened the rest of the way.
Carter missed all six of his shots from the floor in the first half, but nailed a pair of 3-pointers just over a minute apart early in the second for his first two baskets of the game.
Harvard scored the final six points of the first half to take a 20-16 edge into intermission.
Both teams shot under 40 percent in the first half, with BC hitting only 24 percent (6 of 25), and missing 7 of 10 on 3-point attempts. The Crimson shot 36.4 percent (8 of 22), and hit all three of their attempts beyond the arc.
TIP-INS
Harvard: Beat Boston College six-straight times before losing in overtime last season.
Boston College: Carter started his last game 0-for-7 from the field before finishing with a team-high 18 points. . Backup center Idy Diallo fouled out in six minutes. . The Eagles had more turnovers (8) than baskets in the first half.
GET IT RIGHT
Milon said that when he was learning how to shoot as a youngster, his father limited his distance until he shot correctly.
''It started at an early age,'' he said. ''My dad didn't let me shoot from outside the free throw line until my form was good. I didn't start shooting 3s until like eighth grade.''
STRONG INSIDE
Clifford had 11 defensive rebounds.
''I thought this was as hard as Dennis has played since I've been here,'' said second-year coach Christian.
TOUGH AT THE LINE
Harvard was just 9-for-23 on free throws.
''I'm disappointed we didn't put in a little better effort on the little things to win a game like this,'' Amaker said.
UP NEXT
Harvard: Hosts Bryant on Wednesday.
Boston College: Faces Michigan State at the Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, Ca. on Thursday.
