Men’s Basketball Preview: Boston College vs. NC State

The Boston College Eagles will experience their first ACC road game of the season against the NC State Wolfpack. And, oh boy, is it sure to be an experience. The Wolfpack are are riding on a nice high after an upset victory over interstate rival, #17 UNC. This victory catapulted the Wolfpack all the way up the ACC ladder where they currently sit at 4th place in the conference. Not to mention, that matchup occurred eight days ago so expect NC State to come out well-rested and looking to grab another ACC win to add to their collection.

On the flipside, the Eagles are starting to build a winning streak of their own! Granted, it is one game, and against Maine, but all win streaks have to start with at least one victory. Either way, the Eagles surely want to keep things rolling and might now have some revitalized energy after their cakewalk win against an inferior opponent in Maine. In their last outing, BC played probably some of its basketball since the first two games against Villanova and URI. The Eagles were able to force 24 turnovers and collect 15 steals to springboard them to a pretty comfortable win. However, one thing that they still continue to do even though it still has not succeeded, even against Maine, is jack up the three ball an unhealthy amount. BC finished shooting 28.1% (9-32) from behind the arc against Maine.

The Wolfpack have had quite a different experience to the start of their season. They currently are sitting with a 5-1 record with their only loss coming against St. Louis. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, their last victory came against the UNC Tarheels. Senior guard Devon Daniels led all scorers with 21 points in the matchup and is certainly a guy that the Eagles will want to keep their eyes on. He has been on a tear to start the season posting double digit points in all of his contests and shooting a remarkable 50% from the field. Working in tandem with Daniels is junior forward, Jericole Hellems. He is a big man at 6’7 205, but does not necessarily threaten his opponents for his play down on the low-block. The big man can also shoot from outside the perimeter as he leads the team in three-point percentage (37.5%). He also snatches up 5.2 rebounds a game, proving him to be a rather versatile player that the Eagles may have a tough time matching up against.

Prediction:

Not to toot my own horn, but I was able to call last weeks game against Maine down to the exact score. Granted, it was a pointless game and I am sure did not catch the eyes of many gamblers in Vegas, but I am still proud of my accomplishment! With that, I am more than happy to lay-down another prediction for tonight’s game and maybe throw out a few lottery numbers as well.

Vegas currently opened up the lines as the Eagles being +9.5 dogs against the Wolfpack. The Over/Under line also is hovering around 151. I think that these lines are right exactly where they should be, and putting some money down on either one of these lines is tough. Overall, I would say take the points and BC in this one. The Eagles will come out with a little extra pep in their step after a blowout victory of their own and make NC State have to earn an ACC victory. I can envision the Eagles playing up to their competition, like they did against Villanova, and toying with the lead for the first thirty minutes before a collapse riddled by turnovers happens with ten minutes left to play in the game. With that said, I would take NC State moneyline as I believe their pace, ball security (11.7 per game), and efficiency from the field (43.7%) will eventually propel them to victory.

Final: NC State 78 Boston College 70