Boston College responded better than many expected following the firing of head coach Jim Christian with 94-90 victory over the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Now the Eagles set out on a two game road-trip to end the regular season. That road trip starts with a visit to Tallahassee and #11 FSU.

The Seminoles are the kings of the ACC at the moment with a 10-3 conference record and a 14-4 overall record. Yet it is not a particularly comfortable throne, as FSU are only a half-a-game ahead of UVA. The Seminoles have reached the top of the ACC via their conference best offense that is scoring 79.2 points per game, ranks 2nd best at shooting the three ball and is tied for 3rd in terms of field goal percentage. This does not bode well for the Eagles who have been surrendering an ACC worst 78.3 points per game. The Eagles will also be at a bit of a size disadvantage versus FSU. FSU’s size has paid off as they are the 4th best rebounding team in the ACC while BC is the 10th. The silver lining for BC is that they may be able to score against the Seminoles if they can replicate the offensive performance they had against Notre Dame, as the Noles are giving up 69.7 points per game.

Florida State’s leading scorer is senior guard, M.J. Walker, who is also second on the team in assists and is shooting 44.6 percent from beyond the three point line. Another player to keep an eye is Scottie Barnes. The freshman guard leads the Noles in assists and steals and is third on the team in scoring. Also keep an eye on RaiQuan Gray the big redshirt-junior forward.

In their win over Notre Dame, BC was able to avoid doing the two things that have hurt them all year (aside from Covid): turnovers and bad shooting. They shot just above 50% from the field, shot 47.4% from beyond the arc, and only committed 5 turnovers (committing none in the 1st half). The Eagles are going to have to replicate, or perhaps, improve those numbers against the Noles if they want a chance. The loss of Wynston Tabbs is going to be felt even more this game as BC will need all the scorers it can get in order to keep pace with FSU. While the Eagles lost Tabbs, the return of Frederick Scott will be a big help as he will help combat FSU’s size. The best case scenario for BC is that the game turns into a back and forth contest and the Eagles can keep the game close late. One or two bad possessions and the Eagles could find themselves in a big hole and against an offense like FSU, it is unlikely that they’ll be able to climb out.

While the victory over Notre Dame is certainly a confidence booster it is yet to be seen as to whether BC can maintain that level of play. Even if they are capable of repeating such a strong performance it still may not be enough to keep pace with Florida State.

Final

BC - 78 FSU 86