Virginia Basketball at Boston College Game Preview, Score Prediction

After a couple of lackluster wins against Louisville and Notre Dame last week, No. 6 Virginia looks to build some momentum with a more complete performance as the Cavaliers aim for the season-sweep at Boston College on Wednesday night in Chestnut Hill.

Read on for a full preview of Virginia at Boston College, including details on the game, an opponent scouting report, game notes, and a score prediction.

Game Details

Who: Virginia Cavaliers (21-4, 13-3 ACC) at Boston College Eagles (13-15, 7-10 ACC)

When: Wednesday, February 22nd at 7pm

Where: Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

How to watch: ACC Regional Sports Networks

How to stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

How to listen: SiriusXM 158 or 194, SXM App 956 | Virginia Sports Radio Network - click here for affiliates

All-time series: Virginia leads 19-8

Last meeting: Virginia defeated Boston College 76-57 on January 28th, 2023 in Charlottesville.

Opponent Scouting Report: Boston College

2022-2023: 13-15, 7-10 ACC
Notable results: at Duke 75-59 L, Villanova 77-56 L, Virginia Tech 70-65 W, Notre Dame 70-63 W, Duke 65-64 L, at North Carolina 72-64 L, at Notre Dame 84-72 W, Louisville 75-65 W, Clemson 62-54 W, at Virginia Tech 82-76 W, at Florida State 75-69 W

After Virginia defeated Boston College 76-57 on January 28th in Charlottesville, the Eagles have gone 3-3 in their six games since then. Boston College followed up that loss to UVA by defeating Clemson 62-54 in Chestnut Hill. The Eagles have also picked up wins against Virginia Tech and Florida State, while suffering losses to Syracuse, NC State, and Pittsburgh.

This season has been a mixed bag for Boston College, especially in ACC play. The Eagles swept Virginia Tech, picked up a quality win over Clemson, and lost to Duke by just one point. But, Boston College has also suffered some uglier losses recently, losing by 30 to NC State and 19 at Pittsburgh before bouncing back with a 75-69 win at Florida State on Saturday.

The Boston College offense continues to revolve around seven-foot center Quinten Post, who leads the team in points (16.4 ppg), rebounds (6.1 rpg), and blocks (1.1 bpg). Post had 24 points in the first meeting with Virginia as the Cavaliers struggled to contain him even with double-teams. Post's ability to score inside while also stretching the floor as the team's best three-point shooter at 48.8% makes him a handful for any opposing defender or defenders.

Makai Ashton-Langford is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.0 points per game. The 6'3" graduate guard had 12 points in the first game against Virginia, but he has struggled recently and hasn't scored in double figures in any of the last four games. Joining Ashton-Langford in the backcourt is 6'2" sophomore Jaeden Zackery, averaging 10.0 points per game, and 6'5" junior DeMarr Langford Jr., averaging 7.1 points per game. 6'7" freshman forward Prince Aligbe rounds out the starting five.

Boston College head coach Earl Grant has mixed up his lineups quite a bit this season, trying to find the right balance. Seven different Eagles have logged at least 11 starts and 11 different players have played in at least 14 games this season. TJ Bickerstaff, Mason Madsen, CJ Penha, Devin McGlockton, and Chas Kelly come off the bench and each could give the Eagles meaningful contributions on any given night.

In the first meeting with Virginia, however, practically no one showed up for the Eagles outside of Quinten Post and Makai Ashton-Langford. Those two players combined to score 36 of Boston College's 57 points. No other Eagle had more than four points as Virginia cruised to a 76-57 win behind 18-point performances from Armaan Franklin and Jayden Gardner. UVA shot 50.8% from the floor as a team, while holding Boston College to 40.8% from the field. The Eagles didn't do themselves any favors either, turning the ball over 16 times, and the Cavaliers scored 14 points off of those turnovers. Virginia also had 15 second-chance points on nine offensive rebounds.

Quinten Post caused a lot of problems for the Cavaliers, especially in the first half, where he scored 16 of his game-high 24 points. But even with that performance, Virginia won by 19 points. Boston College will need more from its supporting cast in order to avoid the season sweep.

Game Notes

Virginia holds a 19-8 all-time advantage against Boston College in a series that dates back to the 1971-1972 season.
UVA is 14-8 against Boston College since the Eagles joined the ACC.
Virginia has won 12 of the last 14 meetings with Boston College and has a four-game winning streak in the series.
Boston College and Virginia have split the 10 meetings played in Chestnut Hill 5-5.
Tony Bennett is 13-5 against Boston College as a head coach.
Virginia is in first place in the ACC standings at 13-3 and Boston College is 10th at 7-10.

Prediction

The Cavaliers should have won their last two games more convincingly as they played the bottom two teams in the ACC. Instead, Virginia came away with two wins by a combined five points against Louisville and Notre Dame. Wins are wins and UVA has won four-straight and 11 of the last 12 to take sole possession of first place in the ACC standings. But, how you win matters as well for both NCAA Tournament seeding purposes and for the team's own momentum and confidence. Virginia needs to win on Wednesday to stay on track towards winning the ACC regular season title and clinching the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament, but the Cavaliers also need to start playing better basketball overall with March right around the corner. Boston College has caused some trouble for some of the better teams in the ACC this season and beating the Eagles on the road could present a significant challenge for the Cavaliers. With that said, the last two games should have provided more than enough of a wake-up call for Virginia to come out with an edge and give a more complete performance in this matchup.

Score prediction: Virginia 73, Boston College 62

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