Game 13: Boston College-Pittsburgh Basketball Gameday
By Joe Micik
The Boston College Eagles seek their first ACC win of the season on Pittsburgh basketball gameday.
As Pitt rolls into town for a late feature at Conte Forum, Boston College reels from its substantial defeat at the hands of Duke on Saturday. Though hardly unexpected, the Eagles licked their wounds all the way back to Chestnut Hill, but hope to score a victory in their first ACC home game of the 2014-15 campaign.
Pittsburgh basketball, according to ESPN’s resident bracketologist, is not an NCAA Tournament-quality team in early January, but that does not mean they will be an easy out. Pitt is coming off of a scarring loss themselves, except theirs was to a team in a very similar situation, the NC State Wolfpack. The Panthers got blown out in that contest and took a step backwards. This is an important game for them tonight.
Even though the Panthers’ depth of victories is not great — Kansas State is their best win so far, probably followed by a team like Florida Gulf Coast — but they are still a 10-4 basketball team coming to our gym and that must be respected.
As of late last night, Pitt was a 2.5-point favorite according to the Vegas bookies.
Boston College will have to put in some hard work to earn the win. Yet, of all the ACC teams that come to Conte Forum this year, Pitt affords the Eagles one of their best chances to beat an “okay” squad.
Unless, of course, this turns out like the time when Pitt attended Boston College’s ACC home opener in football.
Follow @SoaringtoGlory for updates on the game.
Boston College-Pittsburgh Basketball Gameday:
Game #13 Info
Gametime
9:00pm Eastern
Venue
Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Television
NESN/ESPN3 (Steve Martin, Eddie Fogler)
Radio
WEEI 850AM (Online link)
(Jon Meterparel, Danya Abrams)
Boston College Eagles
Records and Rankings
Boston College is unranked, holding a 7-5 record this year. On Saturday, the Eagles were defeated by the #2 Duke Blue Devils in their ACC opener, 85-62.
Pitt has a 10-4 record and also holds an 0-1 mark in the ACC. They lost 68-50 to NC State in their most recent game.
Boston College and Pittsburgh Basketball Top Performers
Olivier Hanlan leads Boston College in scoring with 16.0 points per game, while Aaron Brown is just behind with 15.7. Dennis Clifford (8.7), Dimitri Batten (8.2), and Patrick Heckmann (7.9) round out the top five.
Clifford is the Eagles’ top rebounder with 5.8 per game, with Heckmann next at 4.8.
Michael Young is the leading scorer for the Panthers with 13.6 per game, with James Robinson next at 11.3. Jamel Artis is third with 9.5 per game.
Young also happens to be the best rebounder on Pitt with 8.0 per game; Artis averages 5.1 and is second.
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Recent Results vs. Pittsburgh Basketball
January 28, 2004: Pittsburgh wins, 68-58 (at Pitt)
March 12, 2004: Pittsburgh wins, 62-53 (at Big East Tournament)
February 28, 2005: Pittsburgh wins, 72-50 (at BC)
February 26, 2014: Pittsburgh wins, 66-59 (at BC)
This is the 48th all-time meeting between the Eagles and Panthers. Pitt is on a seven-game win streak in this series and has an overall lead of 30-17.