Boston College at No. 20 Virginia, 7 p.m. ESPN2
The Cavaliers reached the top 25 with a win Sunday on the road over then-No. 18 Pittsburgh. The Panthers could not covert on two chances to take the lead -- first on a 3-pointer by James Robinson and then right after on a rebound putback where Jamel Artis had a relatively easy path to the basket but for some reason decided to go up and under, got off balance, and missed. Anthony Gill corralled the rebound for the 'Hoos with Panthers swiping at his hands. London Perrantes, a freshman, had the wherewithal to call timeout. Virginia had the ball with nine seconds left. Tony Bennett called a play the guys had been practicing for a couple weeks but were usually unsuccessful at converting. Perrantes brought the ball casually down the court, prompting ESPNU color commentator Jay Williams to tell Virginia to hurry, and then passed the ball to Malcolm Brogdon flying off multiple screens behind Joe Harris with between two and three seconds left. Brogdon drained the 3-pointer about two to three feet beyond the arc with 0.4 seconds left after the ball cleared the net.
Whether the play worked or not, it looked good Sunday. The multiple picks confused Pitt's players, something they could not really recover from in only a couple seconds. Perrantes, once again playing like he was not a freshman, seemed to have the tempo of the play down perfectly as he trotted up the court, waiting for Brogdon to explode beyond the arc. And, of course, the ice water in Brogdon's veins was apparent. He looked calm before the play and afterwards reportedly yelled to Perrantes, "I don't know what to do, I've never done that before," meaning hit a game-winning 3-pointer.
The brilliant offensive play ended the game but Virginia's (and Pitt's) defense shined throughout the contest. It was the seventh time this season Virginia has held its opponent below 50 points. The Cavaliers once again tied up their opponents' best player as well. Pittsburgh's Lamar Patterson finished with just 10 points on 3 of 14 shooting.
It was UVa's first win over a ranked team this year, the Cavaliers coming up short against VCU, Wisconsin, and Duke earlier in the schedule. The Cavaliers are now 8-1 in the ACC, one loss behind Syracuse, and two losses ahead of Pittsburgh and Duke. If UVa wants to get a high seed in the ACC tournament, it is important it keeps winning because Duke holds the tiebreaker with the head-to-head win. The Cavs and Blue Devils do not play in Charlottesville this year.
Tonight, the 'Hoos hope they can overcome any chance of a letdown against surprisingly poor Boston College. The Eagles seemed to be a team on the rise a year ago and were expected to finish in the upper half of the league this year but are just 6-15 overall and 2-6 in the league, with the two wins coming over Virginia Tech. I think it is worth noting that the second victory was by 24 points, so this squad is capable of doing some damage. And the Eagles have been close in losses recently -- in fact, they haven't lost an ACC game by more than 11 points (Maryland - 8, Clemson - 2, Syracuse - 10, UNC - 11, Georgia Tech - 8, Notre Dame - 3, in OT).
Virginia should take this team seriously. BC's potential is better than how it has played and it needs to expect the Eagles' best tonight. The Cavaliers now have that target (No. 20) on their backs and UVa has never been one that has been able to let up when it is getting respected. Another motivational factor for the Cavaliers should be the fact that BC basically kept the 'Hoos out of the NCAA tournament a year ago. Yes, as I have said, Virginia probably literally needed one win anywhere on its schedule last year to go dancing, but BC was one of those losses and was the closest, by one point on the road.
The Eagles are once again led this year by point guard Olivier Hanlan (sophomore, 17.9 points per game) and forward Ryan Anderson (junior, 15 ppg). Hanlan is a complete point guard who also grabs 3.8 rebounds per game and dishes out 2.9 assists per game. Virginia recruited him and BC also recruited Perrantes, so that is a cool little nugget about the point guards facing each other tonight. Anderson also nabs 7.1 rebounds per game.
Sophomore guard Joe Rahon averages 9.7 ppg and hits 35.2 percent of his 3s. Junior guard Lonnie Jackson scores 7.4 ppg and hits on 40.7 percent of his 3s. Elsewhere, Eddie Odio scores 4.9 ppg but also hits on 40 percent of his 3s and Alex Dragicevich hits on 38 percent of his treys.
The Eagles are fairly accurate as a team from beyond the arc, 34.4 percent, ninth in the ACC. Here's the thing, though. They make eight 3s per game, second behind only Duke's 9.6 among ACC teams. That tells you this team launches lots of 3s. And so far, given their record, they aren't making them. However, Virginia needs to be ready to defend the 3 and close out on shooters. If the Eagles get hot, obviously that would help them capture the upset win. In general, BC shoots 44.6 from the field, also ninth in the conference.
Boston College also is really good at the free throw line, something that seems uncommon across college basketball this season. The Eagles hit 75.7 percent from the line, easily the best in the ACC and 10th in the nation. So UVa needs to limit fouls.
One reason why BC doesn't have the record it would like this season is defense. The Eagles are 332nd in the nation in rebounding and give up the most points per game in the league, 73.8, more than three ppg more than the next team, Notre Dame. This tells me that Virginia should not settle for 3-pointers. Run the offense, work the ball around, pass the ball crisply, and the Cavaliers should be able to get good looks close to the basket.
Still, the Wahoos need to be on guard. Crazier things have happened. Boston College is playing below its capability level and sometimes those teams are the most dangerous because you aren't taking them seriously and then bang, they have a game where they light you up. UVa needs to maintain its momentum tonight against a team it should beat at home.
The Cavaliers reached the top 25 with a win Sunday on the road over then-No. 18 Pittsburgh. The Panthers could not covert on two chances to take the lead -- first on a 3-pointer by James Robinson and then right after on a rebound putback where Jamel Artis had a relatively easy path to the basket but for some reason decided to go up and under, got off balance, and missed. Anthony Gill corralled the rebound for the 'Hoos with Panthers swiping at his hands. London Perrantes, a freshman, had the wherewithal to call timeout. Virginia had the ball with nine seconds left. Tony Bennett called a play the guys had been practicing for a couple weeks but were usually unsuccessful at converting. Perrantes brought the ball casually down the court, prompting ESPNU color commentator Jay Williams to tell Virginia to hurry, and then passed the ball to Malcolm Brogdon flying off multiple screens behind Joe Harris with between two and three seconds left. Brogdon drained the 3-pointer about two to three feet beyond the arc with 0.4 seconds left after the ball cleared the net.
Whether the play worked or not, it looked good Sunday. The multiple picks confused Pitt's players, something they could not really recover from in only a couple seconds. Perrantes, once again playing like he was not a freshman, seemed to have the tempo of the play down perfectly as he trotted up the court, waiting for Brogdon to explode beyond the arc. And, of course, the ice water in Brogdon's veins was apparent. He looked calm before the play and afterwards reportedly yelled to Perrantes, "I don't know what to do, I've never done that before," meaning hit a game-winning 3-pointer.
The brilliant offensive play ended the game but Virginia's (and Pitt's) defense shined throughout the contest. It was the seventh time this season Virginia has held its opponent below 50 points. The Cavaliers once again tied up their opponents' best player as well. Pittsburgh's Lamar Patterson finished with just 10 points on 3 of 14 shooting.
It was UVa's first win over a ranked team this year, the Cavaliers coming up short against VCU, Wisconsin, and Duke earlier in the schedule. The Cavaliers are now 8-1 in the ACC, one loss behind Syracuse, and two losses ahead of Pittsburgh and Duke. If UVa wants to get a high seed in the ACC tournament, it is important it keeps winning because Duke holds the tiebreaker with the head-to-head win. The Cavs and Blue Devils do not play in Charlottesville this year.
Tonight, the 'Hoos hope they can overcome any chance of a letdown against surprisingly poor Boston College. The Eagles seemed to be a team on the rise a year ago and were expected to finish in the upper half of the league this year but are just 6-15 overall and 2-6 in the league, with the two wins coming over Virginia Tech. I think it is worth noting that the second victory was by 24 points, so this squad is capable of doing some damage. And the Eagles have been close in losses recently -- in fact, they haven't lost an ACC game by more than 11 points (Maryland - 8, Clemson - 2, Syracuse - 10, UNC - 11, Georgia Tech - 8, Notre Dame - 3, in OT).
Virginia should take this team seriously. BC's potential is better than how it has played and it needs to expect the Eagles' best tonight. The Cavaliers now have that target (No. 20) on their backs and UVa has never been one that has been able to let up when it is getting respected. Another motivational factor for the Cavaliers should be the fact that BC basically kept the 'Hoos out of the NCAA tournament a year ago. Yes, as I have said, Virginia probably literally needed one win anywhere on its schedule last year to go dancing, but BC was one of those losses and was the closest, by one point on the road.
The Eagles are once again led this year by point guard Olivier Hanlan (sophomore, 17.9 points per game) and forward Ryan Anderson (junior, 15 ppg). Hanlan is a complete point guard who also grabs 3.8 rebounds per game and dishes out 2.9 assists per game. Virginia recruited him and BC also recruited Perrantes, so that is a cool little nugget about the point guards facing each other tonight. Anderson also nabs 7.1 rebounds per game.Sophomore guard Joe Rahon averages 9.7 ppg and hits 35.2 percent of his 3s. Junior guard Lonnie Jackson scores 7.4 ppg and hits on 40.7 percent of his 3s. Elsewhere, Eddie Odio scores 4.9 ppg but also hits on 40 percent of his 3s and Alex Dragicevich hits on 38 percent of his treys.
The Eagles are fairly accurate as a team from beyond the arc, 34.4 percent, ninth in the ACC. Here's the thing, though. They make eight 3s per game, second behind only Duke's 9.6 among ACC teams. That tells you this team launches lots of 3s. And so far, given their record, they aren't making them. However, Virginia needs to be ready to defend the 3 and close out on shooters. If the Eagles get hot, obviously that would help them capture the upset win. In general, BC shoots 44.6 from the field, also ninth in the conference.
Boston College also is really good at the free throw line, something that seems uncommon across college basketball this season. The Eagles hit 75.7 percent from the line, easily the best in the ACC and 10th in the nation. So UVa needs to limit fouls.
One reason why BC doesn't have the record it would like this season is defense. The Eagles are 332nd in the nation in rebounding and give up the most points per game in the league, 73.8, more than three ppg more than the next team, Notre Dame. This tells me that Virginia should not settle for 3-pointers. Run the offense, work the ball around, pass the ball crisply, and the Cavaliers should be able to get good looks close to the basket.
Still, the Wahoos need to be on guard. Crazier things have happened. Boston College is playing below its capability level and sometimes those teams are the most dangerous because you aren't taking them seriously and then bang, they have a game where they light you up. UVa needs to maintain its momentum tonight against a team it should beat at home.
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