Who: Virginia Tech Hokies (11-5, 0-2) @ Boston College Eagles (6-10, 1-1)
When: Saturday, January 14 @ 3:00 p.m.
TV: ACC Network (Tom Werme and Cory Alexander)
Where: Conte Forum (8,606), Chestnut Hill, MA
The Opponent: Looking solely at the stats coming into this game, the Hokies should cruise over Boston College. But then you throw in Tech’s last two games, the 1-9 record for the Hokies all-time at BC, and the fact that BC is coming off a win over a Clemson team that crushed FSU by 20. Tech’s only win at Chestnut Hill was an overtime victory in 2008. That’s it. And we all remember BC dominating the Hokies on Senior Night last year in the singular game that probably kept Tech out of the tourney. So who knows what’s going to happen.
BC is easily the worst statistical team in the ACC. Coming into league play, many thought this could be the worst ACC team of all time, even worse than last year’s 1-15 Wake squad. But then they beat Clemson so the worst they can actually do is 1-15. The Eagles have lost to Holy Cross (by 22), UMass (by 36), Boston U (by 14), and 3-14 Rhode Island. Their best win outside of Clemson? Stony Brook. Plain and simple, this is not a good basketball team.
Here’s their projected starting lineup:
| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Yr. | PPG | RPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Jordan Daniels | G | 5-8 | Fr. | 5.1 | 1.4 |
| 20 | Lonnie Jackson | G | 6-3 | Fr. | 7.4 | 2.6 |
| 14 | Matt Humphrey | G | 6-5 | Jr. | 9.9 | 3.1 |
| 12 | Ryan Anderson | F | 6-8 | Fr. | 9.4 | 6.2 |
| 24 | Dennis Clifford | C | 7-0 | Fr. | 9.5 | 5.4 |
Reggie Jackson and Joe Trapani aren’t walking through the door for BC. This is essentially a brand new team. The Eagles return less than 11% of their scoring from last year and have nine freshman on their 15 man roster. NINE. Usually BC starts five freshman, but leading scorer Patrick Heckmann only played 12 minutes on Thursday. He’s averaging 10.5 ppg...and he’s their leading scorer.
Junior transfer Matt Humphrey will likely take his spot in the starting lineup. In his first year since transferring from Oregon, Humphrey is second on the team in scoring with 9.9 per game, but his specialty is the three. He’s chucked up 93 attempts this year, but has only made 28 of them. His scheme is similar to that of the entire team, as the Eagles lead the ACC in three-point attempts with nearly 22 a game. However, they only hit about 7-8 a game.
BC also has very little inside presence, ranking at or near the bottom in almost every single rebounding category. They’re outrebounded by nearly 6 boards a game and only gather 24% of their offensive rebound opportunities, the 7th-worst mark in all of Division I. BC is last in the league in PPG (61.5) and FG% (42%) and next to last in a bunch of categories including defensive rebounding, blocks, steals, and turnover margin.
For the Eagles to win this game, they’re going to have to hit a lot of three’s and keep the game slow and low-scoring. Both Wake and FSU have done that successfully against Tech this year, so let’s hope that string doesn’t continue. I would not be shocked if BC continues the Hokies’ tailspin, but I think Tech finds a way to get through this. I don’t care how it happens, but this is one Tech needs, especially with UNC on the horizon.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 65, Boston College 59
