The upcoming weekend, Part I: Basketball

This weekend, Boston College fans get to enjoy all three major men’s sports teams within a 24-hour stretch if they so choose.  Obviously, this is too much to cram into one article, and I’ve been slacking…a lot…so we’re going to look at one at a time.  We begin with the Boston College basketball team.

The Eagles, whose season I previewed here, will open their 2010-2011 campaign on Friday night at home against the St. Francis (NY) Terriers.  Last season, SFC was BC’s second game of the season, a 72-44 win which saw returning junior Reggie Jackson add up 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.  The leading scorer for that game was Tyler Roche, who now wears a suit on the bench.  This year, the Eagles and their new coach will begin against the Terriers, in a game BC should win easily.

The only SFC player who had a game worth a damn at Conte last year was now-senior Akeem Bennett, a transfer from Western Oklahoma State College, who put up 18 points and 8 rebounds in their defeat.  What is mildly interesting is that SFC boasts two players named “Akeem,” the other one being Akeem Johnson who, in last season’s game, managed 3 points and 1 rebound in 17 minutes.  Also of note is that St. Francis will also be breaking in a new coach: Glenn Braica is the new head man of the Terriers, so this game will feature two head coaches in their first game with their team.

It’s hard to picture a scenario, however, in which Donahue doesn’t get the better of Braica and his team tomorrow night.  What will be interesting to watch will be the development of this new offense: in the exhibition game last weekend, BC opened up from behind the arc and bombed 15 triples (out of 33 shots, for a 45% rate), putting five players into double-figures.  I think we can expect more of the same tendency to shoot the three in this upcoming game.  Keep an eye on the defense as well: Donahue’s Cornell team played fine defense last year (52nd out of 334 in D-1) while Boston College wasn’t quite as flashy (112th).  A good defensive effort in this game, and all season, will go a long way to moving this team in the right direction.

BC wins this one going away, so don’t worry yourself too much.  Feel free, however, to enjoy the offensive show.