When Boston College was dealing with accidents and inexplicable non-league losses early within the marketing campaign, second-year coach Earl Grant’s solely want was to see the Eagles enjoying their finest basketball in time for March Madness.
BC ended the season with 9 ACC victories, three towards ranked opponents, and received three of the final 4 that included a 63-48 win over No. 6 Virginia at residence on Feb. 22.
The Eagles (15-16, Sep 11) drew the No. 10 seed within the ACC match and can face No. 15 Louisville (4-27, 2-18) in a preliminary spherical match at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
“We know what we did in the ACC conference race but obviously this is a new season so it is anybody’s tournament,” stated Grant. “Everybody is undefeated because it pertains to this match as a result of any person goes to win all of it.
“We are just building on what we did in the ACC race. We wanted to be playing our best basketball by March with a chance to advance and that is where we are.”
BC and Louisville have squared off 15 occasions for the reason that Cardinals joined the ACC in 2012 however they’re assembly for the primary time within the match. Louisville leads the collection 10-5 however BC received the final assembly, 75-65, on Jan. 25 at Conte Forum.
“That was over a month ago and we were a little bit of a different team than we are now,” stated Grant. “We aren’t 100% positive how a lot of that recreation pertains to this time of yr as a result of we have been slow-starting rather a lot at the moment.
“Hopefully we are a little bit better now and hopefully we can play as close to a full 40 minutes as we can and move on.”
The nice unknown going into the match is the standing of 7-0 senior heart Quinten Post, the Eagles’ dominant presence within the paint.
Post rolled his proper ankle on one other participant’s foot at 17:18 of the primary half of BC’s 73-65 loss to Georgia Tech within the season finale on Saturday. Post left the ground and didn’t return. Post averages 15.7 factors and 5.7 rebounds a recreation, so it was a tragic end result on Senior Day for a participant who contributed considerably to BC’s success.
Post has complementary high-low qualities to his recreation that present up within the numbers. Post shot 53.8 from the ground, 44.0% from behind the 3-point arc and 85.4% from the road. Post recorded 22 factors and 6 rebounds within the win over Louisville.
“He landed on somebody’s foot and it was a sprained ankle, nothing more than that,” stated Grant. “He is moving around better. We will work with him and practice him so we will have a better feeling and understanding of where he is.”
Grant expects to have two-way guard DeMarr Langford Jr. on the courtroom towards the Cardinals. Langford missed the final two video games with an undisclosed sickness and his contributions to the trigger far exceed the 7.3 factors and a couple of.0 help per recreation that present up on the stat sheet.
The Eagles are tougher to protect and defend the perimeter higher when Langford is on the hardwood together with his brother, senior guard Makai Ashton-Lanford (12.1 ppg.), and dynamic shooter/playmaker Jaeden Zackery (10.5 ppg.)
“They (Langford and Zackery) go back and forth on and off the ball,” stated Grant. “Obviously he frees Jaeden as much as be a scorer and be aggressive off the ball.
“It is a good combination because both can attack the paint, both can bring the ball up depending on who the opponent is and how they are pressuring the ball.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com