Preview: Boston College Men’s Basketball vs Wake Forest

The Boston College men’s basketball team is getting home from a road trip for a Saturday night showdown with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. BC is coming off of an ugly loss to #16 Miami on Wednesday, in which the Langford brothers combined for 39 points but BC still lost by 16. Wake Forest is 12-5 on the season and comes into this game playing very well against ACC opponents, winning 4 of their last 5.

When: Saturday January 14th at 8pm ET

Where: Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

How to Watch: The game will be broadcasted live on ESPN2

Despite now returning most of their missing players from injury, the Eagles are still struggling. Quinten Post has been a much welcomed addition back into the rotation offensively, already posting 10+ point performances in 3 of his 4 games since returning from injury. But his defense hasn’t been quite what BC was hoping for. A lack of size had been a problem for BC’s frontcourt defense and Post’s return has helped them in that regard, but undersized ball-handlers can often exploit his defense and blow by him with their athleticism. Miami did it repeatedly on Wednesday and, with the help of great 3-point shooting, blew the doors off of the building. It’s a new hole for Earl Grant to figure out and patch up as the team starts the back half of the season. That, along with the typically inefficient offense.

Wake Forest is led by senior guard Tyree Appleby, a 5th-year transfer from Florida who has electrified the Demon Deacons on offense. He scores almost 18 points per game and had a 32-point performance against Wisconsin just over a month ago. He has led their offense to score 80+ points in three of their last five games and 77+ in all of their last five. Other players to look out for are sophomore guard Cameron Hildreth, a great inside scorer, and junior forward Andrew Carr, a stretch big that can space the floor and create problems for BC’s defense. Wake doesn’t have a defense of their own to write home about, which may create some opportunities for the Eagles’ scorers, but like against Miami it may not be enough to outshoot their opponent.

Prediction: Wake Forest 84 Boston College 71