Game 16: Boston College-Virginia Basketball Gameday
By Joe Micik
Virginia basketball gameday may be an occasion for a top team to come to Conte Forum, but it has been a long time since one of those games went well.
Boston College has at least once decent win at home over Providence, and several years ago beat a ranked Florida State team when the current core of the Eagles were freshmen, but #2 in the nation on their home court? Their biggest win since the Al Skinner era came at Syracuse on the road last February, while the hometown fans have had little of consequence to celebrate in person.
The Eagles are just barely over .500 again, having ended their preposterous losing streak to the Harvard Crimson earlier this week, but the Wahoos are going to be rather difficult to beat. As a matter of fact, nobody has beaten them, and Virginia looks like they are getting better and better.
Especially following shaky performances over their last four games, this is going to be a tough one. Abandon all hope ye who enter here? Maybe not quite, but Virginia is absolutely a better team than the Eagles. Does Boston College saddle the visiting Cavaliers with a horrible loss, or will Virginia take care of business?
(Eagles fans: Maybe someday, our program will have higher aspirations than just being another team’s “bad loss” come March.)
Follow @SoaringtoGlory for updates on the game.
Boston College-Virginia Basketball Gameday:
Game #16 Info
Gametime
2:00pm Eastern
Venue
Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
The Line
Virginia -13
Television
RSN/NESN (Wes Durham, Dan Bonner)
Radio
WEEI 850AM (Online link)
(Jon Meterparel, Danya Abrams)
Records and Rankings
Boston College basketball is unranked with a record of 8-7 this season. They wrapped their non-conference portion of the schedule at 8-4 with Wednesday’s overtime win over Harvard, but are 0-3 so far in the ACC.
Virginia is 16-0 (4-0) and number two in the nation. Kentucky and Virginia are the only two undefeated teams left in Division I men’s basketball.
Boston College and Virginia Basketball Top Performers
Olivier Hanlan tops the Eagles in points per game with 16.4 with Aaron Brown second at 14.4. Dennis Clifford is the only other Eagle above eight with 8.3.
Boston College Eagles
Clifford is the leading rebounder with 6.1 per game; Patrick Heckmann is next at 4.5.
Virginia’s top scorer is Justin Anderson with 14.9 points per game, while Malcolm Brogdon scores 13.2 and Anthony Gill has 11.8. The Cavaliers rebound quite well, with three players averaging over six rebounds per game: Gill (6.6), Darion Atkins (6.5), and Mike Tobey (6.4).
But make no mistake: Virginia’s calling card is its defense, number one in the nation with 50.4 points per game.
Recent Results vs. Virginia Basketball
January 26, 2012: Virginia wins, 66-49 (at UVA)
January 26, 2013: Virginia wins, 65-51 (at UVA)
March 3, 2013: Boston College wins, 53-52 (at BC)
February 5, 2014: Virginia wins, 77-67 (at UVA)
This is the 18th all-time meeting between Virginia and Boston College. The Cavaliers lead the series, 10-7.