Men’s Basketball Preview: Boston College vs Louisville

What

Huzzah!!! BC ended their losing streak thanks to an upset of Virginia Tech. The Eagles had to battle through some of their old demons but they managed to pull out the victory thanks to a great effort by Jared and Jairus Hamilton. What does BC get as a reward for their hard fought victory? They get to play the #6 team in the nation, the Louisville Cardinals...oh boy.

When

January 27th, 2020

9:00 pm EST

Where

Conte Forum

Chestnut Hill, MA

How To Watch

The game is going to be broadcast on the new ACC Network, which can be found on channel 612 for DirecTV, 402 for Dish Network, 388 for Spectrum, and for Verizon Fios channel is 329 for standard definition and channel 829 for high-def.

The game will also be available to those subscribed to the ACC Network via the ESPN app.

Furthermore, the ACC Network is available to those with subscriptions to Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV, or Playstation VUE.

You can also find a TV provider with ACC Network by going on GetACC.com

How To Listen

WEEI 850 AM

Previewing the Cardinals

Louisville is off to its best start since it joined the ACC and its their best overall conference start since 2009 when they were still apart of the old Big East. At one point the Cardinals were the number 1 team in the country and still sit at number 6. Louisville is one of only five teams that are ranked nationally in the top 20 for both offensive and defensive efficiency and they are also top 20 nationally in terms of scoring margin. The Cardinals have been holding opponents to only 37% shooting, a mark that is sixth best nation. The team is scoring 74.8 points per game, 22.6 of which comes from their bench. The Cardinals only losses have come against two top 20 teams in Florida State and Kentuckey, plus Texas Tech last year’s Final Four runner-up. Furthermore the Cardinals’ top five players in terms of average minutes per game are all upper-clansmen. That level of experience should not be overlooked.

Player to Watch

Jordan Nwora. Some thought that the junior forward was on his way to the NBA draft last season, but Nwora returned with the goal of winning a national championship. So far Nwora’s campaign this year is not hurting his draft stock. Nwora is leading the team in points with 18.6 per game, shooting 46.4% from the floor and 43.1 from three. He has also puts in work on the boards with 7.3 rebounds per game, the second best mark on the team.

How Does BC Win?

A perfect storm of good fortune. Louisville has a excellent combo of talent and experience that will be hard for the Eagles to counter. BC needs to play at their best for all 40 minutes of this game, something that the Eagles have struggled to do all year long, and they need Louisville to have an off night. Having home-court advantage could certainly help BC in getting the Cardinals off their mojo. The Eagles could hope to catch the Cardinals off guard on a 6 game win streak but they’ll need some help to do it. If Louisville comes out focused and reviving at full throttle the Eagles odds at an upset are slim.

Score Prediction

BC - 65 / Louisville - 82