HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Boston College (11-13, 5-8 ACC) at Virginia Tech (14-9, 4-8 ACC) 7PM ACCN

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Boston College (11-13, 5-8 ACC) at Virginia Tech (14-9, 4-8 ACC) 7PM ACCN

It's a great day for a gameday 🦃🔥ℹ️: https://t.co/PKEkbYen7R🤝: @shelormotormile pic.twitter.com/QEgzbgfxUX— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 8, 2023

Boston College (11-13, 5-8 ACC)
vs. Virginia Tech (14-9, 4-8 ACC)
February 8, 2023
Cassell Coliseum
7 p.m. ET
ACC Network
Virginia Tech Sports Network
TV Broadcast

ACCN
Play-by-Play: Wes Durham
Analyst: Dan Bonner

Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop

Current Spread: Hokies -13
Over/Under: -135.5

Two of Blacksburg's finest have a deal for you 👀🍿 Popcorn cup giveaway vs. BC🍿 ~200 servings🍿 Available on a first-come, first-served basis🍿 Come by our promotions booth to receive pic.twitter.com/FNWDJNEGIe— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 8, 2023

Different Day....
The last time the Hokies faced the Eagles looking to avoid the trap Holiday game on the road and had that glow of being ranked. The Eagles played bullyball the entire second half en route to the beginning of an ugly slide for the Hokies including injuring Hunter Cattoor. They now lead the series 22-13 and come in having won the last four. That said, there will be no trap here, and the Hokies seem to have grasped the position they are in, playing much more aggressive on both ends of the floor.

The Eagles are coached by Earl Grant. He began his college coaching career at The Citadel as an assistant coach in 2002. Boston College is his second college head coaching job, taking over the job in 2021 after coaching College of Charleston for seven seasons. He has a 24-33 overall record guiding the Eagles.

The Eagles are a below .500 overall but have a one game advantage on the Hokies in the ACC win column. Since playing the Hokies they have gone 4-7 with wins over Louisville, Notre Dame twice and a surprising win over #20 Clemson.

The Eagles are a veteran team by way of the portal but still seemed to lack an identity early on and may be without Demarr Langford, who suffered a knee injury and has missed the last two games. Langford gave BC 8 points, 6 rebounds and a block in the last game against the Hokies. More critical, he gave the Eagles 41 minutes on the floor.

The one revelation since that game though has been the play of Quinten Post, who has twice been ACC Player of the Week. Post has scored in double digits each of the last ten games and been a force defensively with blocks or adjusted shots. Last time out though it was Devin McGlockton that brutalized the Hokies inside both scoring and physically. While Ashton-Langford led the Eagles in scoring, it was McGlockton that turned around an eight point Hokies lead at halftime with 15 points in the second half and overtime. This team ranks in the bottom third nationally in rebounding, scoring, three-point shooting, free throw shooting, personal fouls and turnovers. The only stat they rank in the top 100 on is blocked shots. Coach Grant spreads the minutes out pretty evenly across nine players.

Coach Grant defensively employs a full court defense the majority of the game. The problem though is that teams have been exposing this defense for quick scoring opportunities. The Eagles are experimenting with a slightly less aggressive mid court defense to cut down on these chances. Expect to see a mix of zone and man-to-man at different points. Defense though is definitely their better half.

Offensively, Coach Grant uses a motion offense but with guard dribble penetration. The Eagles do not focus on perimeter shooting, likely because they have not been very good at it. Eight players are averaging at least 6.2 points per game. They average over 14 turnovers per contest. They get to the free throw line nearly 18 attempts per contest but shoot a mediocre 67% as a team.

The Eagles Backcourt
Makai Ashton-Langford
11 SR G 6-3 185
Worcester, MA Brewster Academy 39 (2017)
12.9 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 2.4 Ast

Jaeden Zackery
3 SO G 6-2 200
Salem, WI Westosha Central (WI)
10.5 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 2.6 Ast

Mason Madsen
45 JR G 6-4 190
Rochester, MN Mayo Senior HS
5.4 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 1.0 Ast

Questionable
DeMarr Langford
5 JR G 6-5 195
Worcester, MA Brewster Academy
7.3 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 2.1 Ast

The Eagles Frontcourt
Quinten Post
12 SR F 7-0 240
Amsterdam, Netherlands Cartesius Lyceum (Netherlands)
15.8 Pts, 6.0 Reb, 1.5 Ast

CJ Penha
24 SR F 6-7 230
Pickerington, OH Harvest Prep (OH)
7.5 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 0.5 Ast

T.J. Bickerstaff
1 SR F 6-9 207
Atlanta, GA Sandy Creek HS
5.2 Pts, 5.8 Reb, 1.3 Ast

Devin McGlockton
21 SO F 6-7 220
Cumming, GA South Forsyth (GA)
5.8 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 0.6 Ast

Prince Aligbe
10 FR F 6-6 225
Minneapolis, MN Minnehaha Academy (MN)
6.9 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 0.6 Ast

What to expect from Boston College?
Forwards Quinten Post and CJ Penha will be a tough matchup down low for Mutts and Basile. Post has been in double-digit scoring for the last ten games. He has been particularly troublesome getting open looks on the perimeter so Basile will need to ensure he stretches his defense out similar to how he played Vander Plas. Kidd and Poteat will likely be called on to counter McGlockton when he is on the floor. A wise use of Poteats fouls would not be a bad thing to keep him from getting easy layups.

Full Court Defense, Mid Court defense, and multiple styles of defense. This may be the smallest lineup in the ACC. BC has generally been successful when they limit shooting fouls and win the rebounding battle. Four of their five ACC wins opponents scored less than ten from the line. The same applies to rebounding. The only anomaly was the win over Clemson. In that game Clemson couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, shooting 31% from the floor.

In conference losses though, they have struggled to win the paint battle on both ends. In losses, they are allowing 11 points per game in second chance scoring. Rebounding defensively looks slightly more balanced overall but that can be partially explained by opponents taking more overall shots. BC has committed nine or more turnovers in six out of eight ACC losses and 10 of 13 overall. In the last game though, the Hokies allowed 17, again 17 Offensive Rebounds that fueled 13 second chance points. The Hokies had an equally stellar 16 Offensive Rebounds but only converted that to 7 points.

ACC Opponents average 72 points per game against the Eagles. BC opponents are shooting 39% from the perimeter, creating an almost nine point per game differential. BC makes up some of that with paint scoring, averaging nearly 40 points per game inside.

The Hokies
Cattoor may not say it but he will be looking to make BC his red-headed step child after how the last one ended. As long as he doesn't over do things on the defensive end and get in foul trouble, expect a 20+ night from Cattoor in this one.

The most important matchup though will be Basile vs Post. If Basile can emulate his last few performances, especially on the defensive end, BC loses a significant part of their overall game plan over the last ten games.
Pedulla/Cattoor have another huge task in trying to limit Makai Ashton-Langford , who put up 21 against the Hokies last time out. He has range out to the logo, similar to Cattoor so you must guard him as soon as he crosses mid-court.

Make baskets inside 4 feet. This was a consistent issue in the first game but the team has greatly improved at finishing in recent games.

The bench must contribute. Last time the Hokies got a solitary point from Poteat and nothing else from the rest of the roster. No word yet on whether Maddox has rejoined the team but the focus here would be more on Poteat or Kidd providing some bench points.

Highlight of the Boohoo Tears game

Pedulla Oblongata and Grant "the defensive machine" Basile

HIMdulla hype ✅Bench hype ✅Cassell hype ✅Everybody hype ✅👨‍🍳🔥 @PedullaSean pic.twitter.com/J6hrswEkaN— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 7, 2023

In Closing
The Hokies are home, rested and motivated for multiple levels of revenge. I expect some testy moments in this one but if they keep their eye on the win its all that's matters.

Scoring inside will open the perimeter to get Cattoor multiple open looks. The balance defensively will be playing aggressive enough to win while staying in control to stay out of foul trouble.

Hokies win 77-66, not quite hitting the spread but still winning where the final 60 seconds are not a nail biter.

This is a Four Popcorn Decision.

Confidence Factor: