ACC Tournament Preview: Notre Dame vs. Boston College
Notre Dame (19-12 / 10-10) will face Boston College (13-18 / 7-13) in the second round of the ACC Tournament, which is being held in Greensboro, NC. Of course, the last time the tournament was held in Greensboro the Irish won the whole thing.
A repeat is needed if Notre Dame is going to get back to the NCAA Tournament.
GAME INFO
Start Time: 7:00 PM (Eastern)
TV: ESPN2
Spread: Notre Dame -9.5
The 9.5-point spread makes sense if you look at how bad Boston College has been the last month, but it doesn't make sense if you look at how the two teams have fared against each other this season.
Boston College beat Notre Dame 73-72 in South Bend in early December. Notre Dame got redemption with a 62-61 victory on February 26th, but it required a last second basket to make it happen.
THE OPPONENT
Boston College has been quite streaky this season, but the bad news for head coach Jim Christian is the losing streaks have been much longer than the winning streaks.
The Eagles won four of their first five games to start the season before losing four straight. That was followed by five wins in six games - including its victory over Notre Dame - before another four-game losing streak. After a 3-3 stretch, Boston College lost its final five games of the season, including its loss to the Irish.
Boston College struggles on both ends of the floor, ranking 14th in the league in scoring (64.8 PPG) and 12th in the league in scoring defense (70.3 PPG). The Eagles rank 15th in both shooting percentage (40.%) and shooting defense (44.3%).
Boston College struggles on the glass a well, ranking 15th in rebounding (33.0 RPG) and 15th in rebound defense (37.9 RPG).
Of course, the story was quite different in its two matchups against Notre Dame. The Eagles shot 49.2% from the field and 47.8% from three-point land in its December victory over the Irish. They weren’t quite as good in the home loss last month (40.7% from the field), but Notre Dame shot just 40.5% from the floor against the Eagles and made just 15-56 three-point attempts.
The rebounding margin was +0 and the Irish committed 26 turnovers against the Eagles in the two games.
Former five-star Derryck Thornton began his career at Duke, transferred to USC and is finishing his career as a grad transfer with the Eagles. Thornton leads Boston College in scoring (13.1 PPG) and assists (3.5 APG), but he’s shot just 38.6% from the field this season. Thornton was outstanding in the win over Notre Dame, knocking down 9-12 shots en route to 19 points.
A bright spot for Boston College this season has been the emergence of freshman guard Jay Heath, who averaged 13.0 points per game during the regular season. Heath scored 16 points in the Eagles December victory over Notre Dame. Heath has scored in double figures in each of the last 14 games, scoring 14.6 points per game during that stretch.
Junior forward Steffon Mitchell has averaged 11 rebounds per game against the Irish this season, which includes total offensive rebounds.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
This is simple, survive and advance. Notre Dame will need to win four games to win the ACC Tournament, thus earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Boston College has given Notre Dame fits this season, but the Eagles are struggling. An easy victory is just what the seven-man rotation of Notre Dame needs to start the tournament.
LINEUPS
