Boston College Eagles vs. Clemson Tigers: Final Thoughts & Prediction
Boston College (6-8) will look to end their five game losing streak on Saturday evening as they take on Clemson at the Littlejohn Coliseum in South Carolina. Earl Grant's squad is coming off a close loss to Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh, both winnable games, but various issues prevented the Eagles from grabbing the victory. Clemson also needs to pick themselves back up after losing to badly to Notre Dame earlier this week. Here is our final thoughts and predictions.
This is a bit of a home coming for Boston College head coach Earl Grant and assistant coach Anthony Goins. Grant worked with Clemson head coach Brad Brownell from 2010-2014, making the NCAA tournament and the NIT. Goins was on the coaching staff the previous two years, including a 2021 tournament appearance for the Tigers.
Boston College (6-8, 1-3 ACC) at Clemson (10-6), 3-2 ACC)
- Date/Time: Sunday, January 14 at 6:30 p.m. EST
- Place: Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson, South Carolina
- TV: RSN (NESN or NESN+) (Eric Collins, Terrance Oglesby)
- Live Stream: fuboTV (link here).
- Radio (Boston College): WEEI 850 AM, Danya Abrams (Color), Josh Maurer (Play by Play)
- Current Odds: Clemson (-10)
- Last Five: Boston College (0-5), Clemson (3-2)
ESPN Matchup Predictor: Boston College has an 7.5% chance of winning this game.
Ken Pom Ratings: Boston College (147) Clemson (48)
Tale of the Tape (via BCEagles.com)
Projected Staters: Makai Ashton Langford, Demarr Langford, TJ Bickerstaff, James Karnik, Jaeden Zackery
Series History: BC is 7-19 all-time against Clemson, dating back to 1975-76. In ACC regular season play, BC is 6-13 against Clemson. The two teams did not play last season due to COVID-19 issues. The last time they faced off was in 2020, a game that Clemson won 82-64.
Player to Watch: PJ Hall, Forward. Last time Boston College played against a solid forward, John Bigley dominated the Eagles. Hall is a solid scorer, and at 6-10 will be a handful for the BC bigs who have struggled defensively. In Clemson's last win against NC State, Hall had 20 points, four blocks and five rebounds.
Keys to the Game:
1. Close out and clean up on defense. Boston College was a bit of a mess on defense against Georgia Tech, switching and closing out too slowly and allowing too many open shots. Clemson shoots 48% from the field, and is a much more dangerous offensive team than GT. If BC continues to make those mistakes, the Tigers are going to run them out of the gym.
2. Cut down on careless errors. Turnovers are going to happen, it's part of the game. But having one of your guards. (Jaeden Zackery) finish with six turnovers is going to put a team in a tough position to win a game. The Eagles finished with 16 turnovers last game, they need to be more careful with the ball if they are going to win.
3. Ride the hot hand. There hasn't been a player who has been "the" guy consistently this season, and that is alright. Makai Ashton Langford played that role against Pittsburgh and Brevin Galloway and Quentin Post both filled those shoes admirably against Georgia Tech. Whomever is playing well for BC needs to get extra touches, and try to push the offense forward to avoid stagnation and scoreless droughts.
AJ's Fearless Prediction: Clemson will be one of the better teams that Boston College has played all season. Fundamentally sound, and deep, Brownell's squad has only lost to other solid teams this season. Boston College has yet to win on the road, and this game doesn't seem like it will be the one that will break that streak. Clemson 77 Boston College 64
Join our forum to talk BC football, basketball, hockey and recruiting! Become part of our BC Bulletin message board and forum. It is a free way to comment on our posts, and interact with other Boston College fans and alumni. Make sure to sign up and become a member. Click here to join today!
You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook and following on us on Twitter.
Facebook- BostonCollegeSI
Twitter: @BulletinBC, @AJBlack_BC
