UNC vs Boston College Preview
Following a two-game road trip, North Carolina will return to the Dean E. Smith Center on Tuesday night to host the Boston College Eagles.
The Tar Heels earned an 80-59 victory over Louisville on Saturday and now look to start another winning streak before NC State comes to town on Saturday.
Boston College enters the mid-week tilt at 8-10 overall and 2-5 in ACC play.
The Eagles’ two conference wins are their lone Power Five wins this season, as they are on track for their fifth consecutive losing season and their 11th in 12 years.
Coached by Anthony Grant, Boston College is a team that, despite the lack of eye-popping stats, has been in many close games.
Duke outlasted the Eagles by one point in Chestnut Hill in January 7th, while Syracuse secured a come-from-behind win in the final ten minutes to knock off Boston College to close out the New Year.
Senior guard Makai Ashton-Langford leads the Eagles in scoring with an average of 12.3 points per game.
Quinten Post, a 7-foot big man for Boston College, is second on the roster at 10.8 points per game, but has appeared in just five games after missing the start of the season due to a foot injury. Post’s 5.2 rebounds are second on the roster, as forward T.J. Bickerstaff (6.3 rebounds) is the only other player to average more than five per contest.
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Offensively, the Eagles have struggled to put the ball in the basket, ranking 14th in the ACC with 65 points per game, only ahead of Louisville. Shooting 42.3 percent from the floor and just 28 percent from three, they can ill afford to fall behind or allow North Carolina to dominate on the glass.
For the Tar Heels, this is all about getting healthy and building back-to-back solid performances.
Boston College is not a resume-building win, but it could put them behind the eight-ball if they fail to come out with a victory.Â
In terms of injuries, Armando Bacot played through an ankle injury he suffered against Virginia, while forward Pete Nance missed his third consecutive contest against the Cardinals.
With a 14-point spread brings the potential for more bench minutes and despite a few lapses in Charlottesville, the Tar Heel bench has grown over the course of January.
Sophomore D’Marco Dunn recorded a career-high 14 points and five rebounds in Saturday’s victory, tallying double digit minutes for the third consecutive game.
Jalen Washington and Seth Trimble once again amassed double-digit minutes on the floor, as the North Carolina rotation featured 10 players in the win.
Rebounding is once again an area that the Tar Heels can exploit against Boston College with Hubert Davis’ squad averaging five more rebounds per game and the most defensive rebounds in the conference at 29.2 per contest.
North Carolina has won 14 of the last 15 matchups with the Eagles.
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