Louisville-Boston College preview

Jan 25, 2023 - 6:40 PM

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Louisville Cardinals (2-17, 0-8) at Boston College Eagles (9-11, 3-6)

Game Time: 9 p.m.

Location: Silvio O. Conte Forum: Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Television: ACC Network

Announcers: Jon Meterparel (play-by-play) and Malcolm Huckaby (analyst)

Favorite: Boston College by 9.5

Series: Louisville leads, 10-4

Last Meeting: Louisville won 67-54 on Jan. 19, 2022 in Louisville

Series History:

Probable Starting Lineups:

Louisville

• G El Ellis (6-3, 180, Sr.)
• G/F Mike James (6-5, 215, R-Fr.)
• F Jae’Lyn Withers (6-9, 220, R-Jr.)
• F J.J. Traynor (6-8, 190, Jr.)
• F Sydney Curry (6-8, 270, Sr.)

Boston College

• G Makai Ashton-Langford (6-3, 180, Gr.)
• G Jaeden Zackery (6-2, 215, So.)
• G DeMarr Langford (6-5, 220, Jr.)
• G/F Prince Aligbe (6-7, 225, Fr.)
• F Quinten Post (7-10, 250, Sr.)

Statistics:

Relevant Videos:

About Boston College:

After a fairly successful 13-20 debut a year ago, second-year head coach Earl Grant is continuing the large task of attempting to build Boston College men’s basketball back into a contender in the ACC. He returned four starters from that 2021-22 squad, but through 20 games this season, the results don’t appear to be particularly improved.

BC enters tonight’s game against Louisville at 9-11 overall and is the lowest-ranked ACC team outside of the Cardinals in virtually every metric. They dropped non-conference contests to Maine, Tarleton State and New Hampshire, but do have three conference wins to date. Two of those ACC victories came against Notre Dame, the most recent of which was an 84-72 road victory on Saturday.

The Eagles’ top overall performer is senior guard Makai Ashton-Langford, who has been playing college basketball since the David Padgett season of 2017-18. Langford is a crafty scorer and passer, who does his best work inside of the three-point line. He’s also one of the league’s most dangerous defenders, averaging better than a steal and a half per game in each of the last three seasons.

BC’s leading scorer is center Quinten Post, who missed the first 13 games of this season because of a foot injury. The 7-footer from Amsterdam has been terrific in recent weeks, and is coming off of a career-high 29-point performance in the win over Notre Dame. In that game, Post drilled in 4-of-5 three-point attempts and also corralled a season-high 14 rebounds.

Boston College has been a horrendous three-point shooting team for most of this season (29.2 percent, 342nd in D-I), but they’re coming off a season-best 11-for-19 effort in the win over the Fighting Irish. Even with that effort, the Eagles rank just 254th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency. They’re a team that wants to win with defense, and that wants to play a subdued, halfcourt game for the most part. They’ll also be hoping that Louisville will continue its trend of turning the ball over at the highest-rate of any team in the country.

Notable:

—Louisville is 8-1 in games against Boston College since joining the ACC in 2014-15.

—Boston College is 341-203 all-time - and 67-82 in ACC games - played at the Silvio O. Conte Forum.

—On Thursday, Louisville added freshman forward/center Emmanuel Okorafor to the roster. Okorafor is a 6-foot-9 native of Lagos, Nigeria, and is eligible immediately after arriving from NBA Academy Africa.

—Louisville has already lost eight games by 20 points or more this season, the 20-point losses in one season in the history of Cardinal basketball.

—In conference play (nine games), BC is averaging nearly 11 turnovers per game, while posting a 1.20:1 ATR. During the non-conference, the Eagles were averaging nearly 3.0 turnovers more per game, with a 0.75:1 ATR.

—In five of Boston College’s nine wins, the Eagles have trailed or been tied at some point during the final 4:00 of regulation.In those games. Boston College has hit five baskets with under 2:00 remaining in regulation to either tie (VT) or go ahead for good (Cornell, Detroit Mercy, Rhode Island, Notre Dame).

—Louisville is 0-8 in conference play for the first time since going 0-11 in the KIAC during the 1939-40 season.

—Louisville began the season 0-9, the largest losing streak to begin a season in the history of the ACC. The Cardinals have currently lost eight games in a row.

—Louisville is 5-32 over its last 37 games dating back to last season.

—Louisville is 218-13 over the last 20 seasons and 15-1 over the last three when scoring 80 points or more. The Cards have eclipsed the 80-point mark just once this season.

—Louisville is 14-0 over the past 10 seasons when limiting opponents to no more than one three-point field goal.

—Since 2004, Louisville is 128-0 when leading by more than 10 points at halftime.

—Louisville has won 162 consecutive games when holding an opponent under 50 points.

—Louisville has won 157 consecutive games when scoring at least 85 points in regulation.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Boston College 71, Louisville 61