Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Boston College Eagles

The Cardinals conclude the 2023-24 regular season with a rematch against the Eagles.

Boston College Eagles (16-14, 7-12 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (8-22, 3-16 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, March 9 at 5:30 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: The CW Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Boston College -5.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 10-7
- Last Meeting: Boston College won 89-77 on Feb. 13, 2024 (Conte Forum - Chestnut Hill, Mass.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Skyy Clark (6-3, 205, So.)
• G Tre White (6-7, 205, So.)
• G/F Mike James (6-5, 200, R-So.)
• F Kaleb Glenn (6-6, 205, Fr.)
• F Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6-10, 240, Jr.)

Boston College

• G Claudell Harris Jr. (6-3, 190, Jr.)
• G Jaeden Zackery (6-2, 220, Jr.)
• G Mason Madsen (6-4, 200, Sr.)
• F Devin McGlockton (6-7, 230, So.)
• F/C Quinten Post (7-0, 235, Gr.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Eagles, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Boston College

Game Notes

Louisville

• Last time out: Louisville could not overcome a 22-point first half deficit despite a much more efficient second half, falling 80-64 in a rematch with Virginia Tech.
• KEY FIRST HALF RUN: Virginia Tech led throughout the first half, going on a 7-0 run twice with a Cardinals 7-0 run sandwiched in between. The Hokies used a 13-4 run to push their lead as high as 23 points. Louisville scored the final five points of the half but the Hokies still led 49-31 at halftime.
• KEY SECOND HALF RUN: Louisville fought back in the second half, cutting the Hokie advantage to 10 with a 12-4 run, but would never come closer. Louisville outscored Virginia Tech 33-31 in the second half.
• UofL shot 25 of 55 (45.5%) from the field, 9 of 23 (39.1%) from 3-point range and 5 of 11 (45.5%) from the free-throw line.
• Of Louisville’s 64 total points, 22 were scored off the bench by Ty-Laur Johnson (10), Zan Payne (6), and Curtis Williams (3), Danilo Jovanovich (2), and Emmanuel Okorafor (1).
• Louisville outscored Virginia Tech in the paint 28-18.
• Brandon Huntley-Hatfield led the Cardinals in scoring with 19 points on 8 of 13 shooting, including an eight of the Cardinals’ first 11 points. He also added five rebounds and an assist in 30 minutes.
• With 34 minutes of play, Mike James followed closely with 16 points. He also clocked four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
• Coming in off the bench, Zan Payne set a career high by recording 6 points, both 3-pointers, and six rebounds in just 18 minutes of work.
• Kaleb Glenn led Louisville with eight defensive rebounds. He added five points and a steal.
• Ty-Laur Johnson recorded four assists and scored 10 points, netting two 3-pointers along the way in his 27 minutes. With his four assists, Johnson overtook the spot for fourth-most assists scored by a Louisville freshman with 108 total assists for the season. He is one assist away from tying DeJuan Wheat for third at 109 assists.
• Louisville will honor three senior players – Aidan McCool, Zan Payne and JJ Traynor – along with one senior manager in a pregame ceremony Saturday starting at 5:15 p.m. on Denny Crum Court. The Cardinals are 17-6 in their last 23 Senior Day games.
• While the Cardinals have been outscored by 95 points across their last 10 games, they’ve outscored their opponents by 21 with Zan Payne on the court over that span. Payne had career highs of six points and six rebounds in Tuesday’s loss to Virginia Tech while also knocking down his first two career 3-pointers.
• This is the first time Louisville has finished the regular season with at least three straight home games since 1992-93. The Cardinals haven’t had two straight home games to end the regular season since 2014-15.
• Over the last nine games, junior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is averaging 17.3 points and 8.1 rebounds while shooting 58.8% from the field (60 of 102). He has eight double-doubles this season after recording just two doubledoubles in the first 68 games of his career.
• Guard Ty-Laur Johnson’s 108 assists are the fourth-most ever by a Louisville freshman. He recently passed current team Video Coordinator Reece Gaines (1999-00) and trails only LaBradford Smith (156, 1987-88), Jason Osborne (141, 1993-94) – the father of senior forward JJ Traynor – and DeJuan Wheat (109, 1993-94). Over the last nine games, he’s averaging 11.1 points, 5.5 assists and 1.9 steals per outing.

Boston College

• Quinten Post is one of the best players in the country and his stat line for the Eagles this season is perfect evidence. He is the only major conference player in the nation averaging 16.8 points, 8.0 boards, 2.9 assists, and 1.9 blocks per game. The last ACC player to average that season stat line: Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan in 1996-97.
• Devin McGlockton is one of the ACC’s Most Improved Players, showing major jumps in several stat categories Through 30 games, McGlockton is fourth on the Eagles in scoring (10.4) and second in rebounding (6.0) and blocks (1.0).
• Since entering the starting lineup seven games ago, Mason Madsen is averaging 13.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. The 6-4 guard has made 23 3-pointers over that seven-game span, connecting from long-range at a .418 clip.
• As a playmaker, Jaeden Zackery ranks among the top players nationally in three different categories. He is 84th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (2.31:1), 106th in total assists (127), and 118th in assists per game (4.2). Earlier this month, Zackery became the 14th different Eagle since 1996-97 to reach the 100 assist mark in a season.
• Boston College’s top three scorers - Quinten Post, Claudell Harris Jr., and Jaeden Zackery - are also its top three assists men. Zackery ranks third in scoring (11.5) and first in assists (4.2), Post is first in scoring (16.8) and second in assists (2.9), and Harris is second in scoring (13.1) and third in assists (2.1). The trio combines for over 9.2 of the 14.4 assists per game.
• BC has connected on 68 3-pointers over its last seven games, including a season-high 15 in the first meeting vs. Miami. The 15 3-pointers made against Miami tied for the fourth-most in a single-game in Boston College men’s basketball history.
• Boston College’s 1.36:1 assist/turnover ratio ranks as the second-best mark in program history. BC’s assist/turnover ratio ranks 71st nationally - and seventh in the ACC - having compiled 431 assists to 318 turnovers.
• Boston College ranks 72nd nationally (7th in ACC) in turnovers per game, committing 10.6 turnovers per game. It would rank as the lowest turnovers/game rate since Boston College tracked the stat beginning in 1979-80.
• Quinten Post is one of seven major conference players to tally at least 40 3-pointers, 80 assists, and 50 blocks in a season.
• Over his last six games, Jaeden Zackery is 11-of-16 from beyond the arc (.688); he was 15-of--50 (.300) in his first 24 games.

(Photo of Mike James: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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