Television
ESPNU - Bob Picozzi & Malcolm Huckaby
Radio
Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network - Bill Roth & Mike Burnop
Also available on:
Satellite: Sirius: 93 XM: 193
Digital: Hokies Xtra & TuneIn
Battle of the Cellar Dwellers....both teams come in with 2-14 conference records with two games each remaining. Tonights game likely seals the deal for who will be last in the conference. Tech faces Miami next, while BC has a more forgiving opponent in Wake Forest, so its possible that if Tech wins tonight and BC beats Wake we will have a three way tie with Georgia Tech.
Both with beat up records but BC comes in having won a game and ending a nine game skid, after defeating NC State handily 79-63, likely ending the Wolfpacks chances of getting into the NCAA at large barring a conference tourney title game run. Now for the other bad news. BC comes in with size for days....four players 6'11 or taller on the roster.
The good news is that only the 7'1 center, Dennis Clifford (#24) plays significant minutes for the Eagles. Its the guards and forwards that do most of the scoring for BC.
Olivier Hanlan, (#21) a 6'4, 190 lbs guard is averaging 19.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 4 apg. He shoots 46% from the field and 37% from behind the arc. Ultimately, as he goes, so go the Eagles. He dropped 24 points and 8 rebounds on the Wolfpack to lead BC in that win. If Buzz can find a way to keep him off the board, than Tech has a good chance of winning this game.
Aaron Brown, (#22), a 6'5, 215 lbs senior forward is Boston College's only other double digit scorer at 15.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.1 apg.
What to expect from BC on offense? They run a constant flex offense, everyone is always on the move, using screens to create openings, especially so on cutting across the lane, so the Hokies defense is about perfect by protecting the lane. The only issue is that BC also attempts about 20 three pointers per game and it seems that all players that do shoot the three shoot somewhere in the 30%-40% range. As for who shoots the most, Brown and Hanlan account for 332 of BC's 556 attempts. Thats roughly 60% of all attempts for this team. Keep a hand in each of these guys faces outside and cut down on BC scoring dramatically.
Defensively, Boston College struggles mightily, especially in transition. We could see a big game from Ahmed Hill tonight if the Hokies can create turnovers and move the ball quickly up court. Hill usually seems to be at the root of these transitions and may actually beat all players down the floor tonight and score. The other issue for BC, is that like Tech, they like to defend the lane, and risk the outside. If the Hokies are hitting their shots, they should have plenty of open looks tonight.
Tonight should also be a pretty even game on the glass for a change. BC comes in averaging just 1.2 more rebounds thatn Tech per game.
Tech has home court tonight, hopefully a good crowd in what could be their last best shot at a win. I know that the administration was running all kinds of specials to try to get a good crowd on hand. That and a chance to face a comparable opponent will have Buzz lighting a fire in these guys. Maybe I am just cruisin for a bruisin, but.....
Virginia Tech 74 - Boston College 62
Send the Eagles home in firm control of the basement of the ACC.
Comments
Go Hokies. The battle for the Cellar of the ACC begins tonight!
No top draft pick prize for the loser.
Let's beat last year's win total!
There's an overtime game ahead of us. Again.
ESPNEWS
I need to upgrade my cable package.
I'm thinking of getting rid of mine.
I'm eagerly awaiting a la carte cable packages where I only have to pay for locals and sports channels.
If the ACC offered a streaming package like I can get for NBA, NHL, MLB, etc on my PS4, I'd cancel tomorrow.
Maybe that will be a function of the ACC Netwo....
Um...never mind.
for some reason Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network is playing the first game of the season......
http://www.stream2watch.me/sports/basketball/boston-college-vs-virginia-...
The game for anyone that can't watch it...
That dunk attempt.
game of runs
Is that like Game of Thrones but about Taco Bell?
BC shooting 66%, 5-10 threes. Welp.
Pretty embarrassing defense for these guys tonight. Its almost like they arent even on the floor. Wide open looks, no challenge layups, just frustrating. BC shooting almost 70% so far tonight. Guess they decided they didnt want to be in last place and the Hokies didnt.
We've got a bad habit of playing to the opponent. We're well on our way to playing Wake on day one at the ACC tournament.
Guys you don't get the first pick in the draft for the worst record! Show some heart here.
Dammit, ltrepeter, you jinxed us.
I just got back from the grocery to catch the last minute of the first half. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!?! I thought BC was a winnable game...
We are not guarding the 3 point line at all!
Our defense took the final 10 minutes of the half off
9:00 tips during the week are the equivalent of a noon kickoff.
Agreed. We better be getting a bigger chuck of TV revenue to offset the lower attendance. If I was close enough to drive in for week night games this would let out way too late. Even as a student this would be a late weeknight with assignments and morning classes.
What a take by Hudson, even if he missed the dunk, showed some tenacity that has been missing. Some of the freshman timidity starting to fall away.
Just turned the game on, the comeback will start now
8-0 run, you might be onto something
Well now I can't go to sleep
BC was bound to stop shooting lights out sooner or later. Smith is fired up. This team won't lie down.
No Give an F from the Hokies tonight. Total lackluster showing. Tired of the inconsistency and really tired of Buzz not trying for rebounds against teams that we could actually get rebounds against. It is too much a gimme game now for BC because they can just trade baskets and eat the shot clock. They dont have to worry about us getting second chances because we are in such a hurry to tuck our tail back up the floor. Sometimes you have to change your style when its getting out of hand. Do something to wake these guys up and possibly shake the shooting of the opponent. Losing by 40 at this point wouldnt matter, but having a chance to get back in it would pay big dividends.
SINGLE DIGITS GET HYPE!!!
8 pts and 8 min to go!
This was pathetic. The crowd was pathetic, effort was pathetic until the last 12 minutes. And again the opponent shot lights out from 3. I would venture to guess we're in the 200's in D1 in 3 point fg defense. Very disappointing. But let me praise them for "fighting back" again because this team "never quits", etc, etc.
Well they made a good run, but dug too deep of a hole to climb out of. Hopefully they can do something in the tourney to get some momentum going into next year.
That sounds about right.
It would sure be nice if we could stop playing BC.... in every sport.
The worst part is they are totally beatable in every sport
They just straight own us lately. Hope we can reverse that trend soon.
Welp.
That is one sad puppy.
Yeah, poor thing was born without a jaw bone.
This has been a disappointing year, I'll just say that. Usually the effort and hustle is there. Didn't see much of that tonight. We lost this game more than BC won it.
The effort was definitely there for the big games - not so much for very winnable games like these. As much as I appreciate the fight against LOLUVa and Dook, we should be winning these games. A little upsetting, honestly. This team has checked out, I fear.
To be fair, having back-to-back top-5 opponents and losing both in close fashion, then trying to get up and play again 2 days later is tough. It was easy to see those guys just didn't have much left in the tank for tonight. Eventually they'll learn to get up for the small-time games as much as they get up for the big ones.
True. I don't mean to diminish those guys giving it their all out on the court, especially after such big marquee games. It is very frustrating to see them give away a very winnable game, but no doubt Buzz will ensure they take notes and learn from this one.
It's incredibly frustrating. I hate losing... But still, I think we're gonna see some big strides next year. At the very least, the on-court performance will start catching up with the improved Cassell atmosphere.
The shooting was just off last night. They will shake it off and stomp Miami for the last home game of the season. We will rock the Cassell for at least one more game.
I wore my rose colored glasses today!