Boston College at No. 9 Virginia, 2 p.m. NBCSW
The Cavaliers host the Eagles today as they embark on the beginning of the ACC schedule. BC has already played in one ACC game -- the only one so far this year -- shocking then-No. 1 Duke on Dec. 9 at home, 89-84.
Virginia is 11-1 after winning three straight to close the nonconference schedule following a tough road loss against West Virginia. All of the Cavaliers' wins this season except one have come by at least 12 points, the 76-67 win over VCU on the road being the exception.
After the WVU loss, Virginia had an 11-day break for exams and then hosted Davidson. UVa got off to a very slow start before taking off near the end of the first half and pulling away for an 80-60 win. Rutgers transfer Nigel Johnson provided the spark off the bench in the first half. You could see the offense gain some life when he entered. He finished with 22 points, four steals, three assists, and three rebounds. Some fans have been calling for him to start over Ty Jerome, but as of now, it doesn't seem like Tony Bennett is going in that direction. Against the Wildcats, UVa nearly had three 20-point scorers as Devon Hall finished with 20, and Kyle Guy added 19.
An interesting sidenote to come out of the Davidson game was a Facebook post from De'Andre Hunter's brother, Aaron. Hunter, a redshirt freshman, hadn't played that well yet this year going into the Davidson game except for scoring 23 points against Monmouth. He only played seven minutes against Davidson but did make a field goal. Hunter's brother took to Facebook after the game to post that he was hoping Hunter would transfer out of UVa. Fans took note, so much so that UVa sports website Streaking the Lawn asked the brother about the post, and Aaron Hunter said he was just disappointed De'Andre hadn't been playing well and was frustrated. He went on to say he hoped he remained a Cavalier, De'Andre had not said he wanted to transfer, and that he tagged him in the post to light a fire under him as much as anything else.
Despite making only 1 of 5 shots and having two turnovers, Hunter played 23 minutes, the most on the team, in the Cavaliers' next game against Savannah State. He recorded nine points as the Wahoos got out to a 12-0 lead and drilled the lowly Tigers, 78-47. The competition was bad, but it was good to see Jerome bounce back from some bad outings to post 17 points, four rebounds, and three assists in the victory. He was a perfect 3 for 3 from beyond the arc. Jack Salt tied a career high with 10 points, and Mamadi Diakite had 10 as well. And Hunter seeing plenty of minutes has to make you wonder if Bennett made a concerted effort to play him a lot. But it was probably just more about Virginia blowing out Savannah State, giving plenty of opportunities all around for playing time.
UVa closed out its pre-ACC slate by beating Hampton at home last Friday, 82-48. Despite the final margin, the Pirates made it interesting for several minutes in the first half, leading 14-9 at one point. Virginia pulled away for a 40-25 halftime lead, though, and kept on building its cushion in the second 20 minutes. Hunter had a strong game, going 6 for 8 from the field for 14 points with three rebounds, an assist, and a block in 19 minutes. Guy led the way for the Wahoos with 15 points, and Jerome was solid with 10 points, and he sunk 2 of his 4 3-pointers.
Boston College beat Duke and has 10 wins for the first time in three seasons. Last year, BC won nine games, and it recorded just seven two years ago. The Eagles also have three losses, to Texas Tech,(75-64), Providence (86-66), and Nebraska (71-62). In its most recent outing, BC hosted Richmond,
which has just two wins, and gave up a big lead but won, 78-73. The Eagles also barely scraped by Colgate, 83-79. So while the Eagles are clearly making strides, they are still a bit inconsistent. One of the big reasons they beat Duke was 3-point shooting. They made 15 of their 26 attempts with Jordan Chatman and Jerome Robinson making five each and Ky Bowman adding three. Bowman was 12 of 24 from the field and had 30 points. Robinson finished with 24 points, and Chatman had 22. Overall, though, BC is not great beyond the arc at just 36.5 percent, 130th in the country. Unsurprisingly, Bowman (16.6), Robinson (16.5), and Chatman (14.3) are BC's leading scorers. I feel fairly confident in saying that all three won't go off against Virginia at JPJ. UVa usually does a great job of limiting multiple high scorers. Duke was ranked No. 1 at the time, but the Blue Devils, as they have in recent seasons, have a very talented and athletic team but are short on experience and defense, at least early in the season, so it wasn't shocking to see a team score tons of points on the Devils. Scoring that much at JPJ is a different story. And actually, the victory over Duke is something that should have UVa's attention. I think Bennett can turn that into focus for the 'Hoos, who would maybe be a little lackadaisical against an Eagles team that has been less than impressive the past couple seasons. UVa now knows BC has the potential to win this game. I like Virginia's chances at home to get to 1-0 in the ACC if it comes out focused and shuts down any major 3-point threats by the Eagles and limits their big scorers to one, maybe two guys.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 10-15 points.
The Cavaliers host the Eagles today as they embark on the beginning of the ACC schedule. BC has already played in one ACC game -- the only one so far this year -- shocking then-No. 1 Duke on Dec. 9 at home, 89-84.
Virginia is 11-1 after winning three straight to close the nonconference schedule following a tough road loss against West Virginia. All of the Cavaliers' wins this season except one have come by at least 12 points, the 76-67 win over VCU on the road being the exception.
After the WVU loss, Virginia had an 11-day break for exams and then hosted Davidson. UVa got off to a very slow start before taking off near the end of the first half and pulling away for an 80-60 win. Rutgers transfer Nigel Johnson provided the spark off the bench in the first half. You could see the offense gain some life when he entered. He finished with 22 points, four steals, three assists, and three rebounds. Some fans have been calling for him to start over Ty Jerome, but as of now, it doesn't seem like Tony Bennett is going in that direction. Against the Wildcats, UVa nearly had three 20-point scorers as Devon Hall finished with 20, and Kyle Guy added 19.
An interesting sidenote to come out of the Davidson game was a Facebook post from De'Andre Hunter's brother, Aaron. Hunter, a redshirt freshman, hadn't played that well yet this year going into the Davidson game except for scoring 23 points against Monmouth. He only played seven minutes against Davidson but did make a field goal. Hunter's brother took to Facebook after the game to post that he was hoping Hunter would transfer out of UVa. Fans took note, so much so that UVa sports website Streaking the Lawn asked the brother about the post, and Aaron Hunter said he was just disappointed De'Andre hadn't been playing well and was frustrated. He went on to say he hoped he remained a Cavalier, De'Andre had not said he wanted to transfer, and that he tagged him in the post to light a fire under him as much as anything else.
Despite making only 1 of 5 shots and having two turnovers, Hunter played 23 minutes, the most on the team, in the Cavaliers' next game against Savannah State. He recorded nine points as the Wahoos got out to a 12-0 lead and drilled the lowly Tigers, 78-47. The competition was bad, but it was good to see Jerome bounce back from some bad outings to post 17 points, four rebounds, and three assists in the victory. He was a perfect 3 for 3 from beyond the arc. Jack Salt tied a career high with 10 points, and Mamadi Diakite had 10 as well. And Hunter seeing plenty of minutes has to make you wonder if Bennett made a concerted effort to play him a lot. But it was probably just more about Virginia blowing out Savannah State, giving plenty of opportunities all around for playing time.
UVa closed out its pre-ACC slate by beating Hampton at home last Friday, 82-48. Despite the final margin, the Pirates made it interesting for several minutes in the first half, leading 14-9 at one point. Virginia pulled away for a 40-25 halftime lead, though, and kept on building its cushion in the second 20 minutes. Hunter had a strong game, going 6 for 8 from the field for 14 points with three rebounds, an assist, and a block in 19 minutes. Guy led the way for the Wahoos with 15 points, and Jerome was solid with 10 points, and he sunk 2 of his 4 3-pointers.
Boston College beat Duke and has 10 wins for the first time in three seasons. Last year, BC won nine games, and it recorded just seven two years ago. The Eagles also have three losses, to Texas Tech,(75-64), Providence (86-66), and Nebraska (71-62). In its most recent outing, BC hosted Richmond,
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 10-15 points.
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