Afternoon Quickie: BC-FSU Preview; Fletcher Snubbed by Combine
By Joe Micik
At Conte Forum tonight, the Boston College Eagles men’s basketball team will try to stop their six-game losing streak against the #15 Florida State Seminoles. FSU has won seven consecutive games and if they defeat BC tonight, it will officially be the Eagles’ worst losing streak in about a decade, give or take a year.
Florida State is not #15 for nothing. They’re very good at rebounding and also do quite well at scoring, but during this win streak they’re on, they’ve beaten three ranked teams: #3 UNC, #4 Duke, and #18 Virginia. They’ve come a long way since their triple-overtime loss to Princeton on December 30, that’s for sure.
As for the Eagles, they hung in there at Georgia Tech, but let’s be honest: neither team on the court that day played well, but the Yellow Jackets just happened to play less poorly. They only managed 47 points in their defeat, and it was the latest in a line of stunningly-low point totals for the Eagles. Over the course of their six-game losing streak, BC has averaged only 53.2 points per game, and that has dropped their season average below 60. The last time they scored 70 points in a game was in double-ovetime against Rhode Island; the last time they scored 70 in regulation was against Sacred Heart in December.
At running the risk of stating the obvious, it’s going to be hard for BC to win games when they can’t crack 60 points, and tonight is no different. Gametime is 7pm on ESPN3.
Not surprisingly, Luke Kuechly was invited to the NFL Combine yesterday; Donnie Fletcher and Max Holloway were not. Holloway is not much of a shock, but Fletcher does seem to be. Fletcher reportedly practiced well at the Senior Bowl but did not have a good game, and his draft stock appears to have taken a dive as a result.
Before all of that happened, if you asked me, Fletcher looked like a 5th-round pick. Now, who knows. There is still plenty of time for him to prove his worth to teams, but not having the Combine hurts.
The #6 women’s hockey team won their Beanpot consolation game on Tuesday night, beating #8 Harvard 4-2. Goaltender Corinne Boyles stopped 33 Crimson shots to get the victory.
The Eagles lost their first-round game in a shootout against Northeastern, and in their most recent game, BC was stomped by Providence, so they have gotten back on the winning track. BC’s upcoming weekend will feature a home-and-home series against UConn.