When: Tuesday – January 6 – 9:00 PM
Where: Conte Forum – Chestnut Hill MA
TV: ACC Network
Opponent: Boston College Eagles
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): NC State 75-65 / NC State 73-63
Wolfpack
Snapshot:
- Record: 10-5, 1-1
- Rankings: KP #32, BT #27
- NET Ranking: NET 37, 8th in ACC Conf NET rankings
- NET performance: Q1 (1-4), Q2 (3-1), Q3 (2-0), Q4 (4-0)
Wolfpack Season So Far:
“”We’ve got better players than how we’re playing. That’s on me as a coach.” Coach Wade
What’s On the Line?
- This is a Q3 game. BC is the lowest ranked ACC team in the NET.
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Tre Holloman – sprained ankle
- Jerry Deng – groin pull
Opponent Overview:
“This is our breakout year—I’ll say it right here,” [Donald] Hand said. “We’ll be top five in the ACC. I’ll say it confidently.”
The ACC preseason media voters were not listening; they predicted that BC would finish last in the league.
This is coach Earl Grant’s fifth season at Chestnut Hill, and unless he recovers well from a slow start, possibly his last. He has had one winning season (23-’24 – NIT 2nd round) but has not yet had a winning ACC record.
Things could be more subdued than usual at Conte, the students don’t resume classes until January 12th.
“[Donald] Hand is certainly a handful and draws a ton of fouls. He does a really good job driving the ball. He hadn’t shot it as well from three this year, but he also hadn’t seen our defense yet this year.” Will Wade
Opponent Snapshot:
- Record: 7-7, 0-1
- Rankings: KP #155, BT #182
- NET Ranking: NET 187, 18th in ACC Conf NET rankings
- NET performance: Q1 (0-0), Q2 (0-2), Q3 (1-3), Q4 (6-2)
Player Notes
- Aidan Shaw is 6th in the ACC in blocked shots
- Jayden Hastings is 8th in the ACC in blocked shots
What to watch for:
- BC strength – Shot Blocking – 3rd in the ACC in blocks
- BC weakness – Offense – Last in the ACC in scoring.
- BC strength – Defense – 5th in scoring defense.
- BC weakness – Shooting – Last in the ACC in FG% and 3PT%
- BC strength – 3PT – 1st in the ACC in limiting 3PT shots, holding opponents to an average of 27.6%
- BC weakness – Assists – Last in the ACC in assists per game
- BC breakout 3PT shooter – Leading scorer Donald Hand is shooting 19.1% on the season. This could be his big day.
Prediction:
This one should look like the NC State / UVA game, but with the Wolfpack administering the beatdown. The Pack has a comfortable lead through the second half until the Eagles make a late game run against Colt Langdon, Jordan Snell, Scottie Ebube, Terrance Arceneaux and Matt Able. Final score, 80-69 Wolfpack.
