Game Preview: Virginia Basketball vs. Boston College

Game Details

Who: Virginia Cavaliers (12-9, 6-5 ACC) vs. Boston College Eagles (9-11, 4-6 ACC)

When: Tuesday, February 1st at 6pm

Where: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia

How to watch: ACC Network

All-time series: Virginia leads 17-8

Last meeting: Virginia defeated Boston College 61-49 on January 9th, 2021 in Chestnut Hill.

By the Numbers

Virginia	By the Numbers	Boston College
62.7	Points Per Game	65.7
59.8	Opponent PPG	65.9
45.1%	Field Goal %	41.1%
42.0%	Opponent FG %	44.0%
32.8%	Three-Point FG %	31.3%
35.7%	Opponent 3PT FG %	36.3%
+3	Rebounding Margin	+61
+23	Turnover Margin	+16
98th	NET Ranking	159th
121st	RPI	228th

Opponent Breakdown: Boston College

Notable results: Notre Dame (73-57 W), North Carolina (91-65 L), Pittsburgh (69-67 L), Clemson (70-68 W), Louisville (67-54 L), Virginia Tech (68-63 W), Wake Forest (87-57 L), Pittsburgh (69-56 W)

Earl Grant's first season as Boston College's head coach has been challenging, as the rebuilding Eagles sustained a five-game losing streak on either side of a COVID pause in late December. However, BC has proven to be a dangerous team at times this season, picking up four ACC wins, including two victories over teams that have beaten Virginia this season in Clemson and Notre Dame.

The Eagles are led by brothers Makai Ashton-Langford (13.0 ppg) and Demarr Langford (10.5 ppg). Boston College is generally a poor three-point shooting team with a 31.3% three-point average that ranks 14th in the ACC. But, the Eagles do have one player, Jaeden Zackery, who is very capable of lighting it up from three-point range. Zackery, a 6'2" freshman guard, is shooting 47.1% from three this season, the 5th-best mark in the conference, and is averaging 9.1 points per game.

What to Watch For

Slow pace

As usual, Virginia ranks last in the country in tempo at 61.3 possessions per game. Boston College also plays at a very slow pace, as the Eagles are 328th in the NCAA in tempo at 66.8 possession per game. Virginia has played three games this season against ACC teams that play at an even slower pace than that of Boston College and each of those three games (twice against Pittsburgh and once against Virginia Tech) came down to the wire. Expect another slow grind between the Cavaliers and Eagles in Charlottesville on Tuesday night.

Offensive rebounding battle

Boston College is very active on the offensive glass. The Eagles are second in the ACC with 11.7 offensive rebounds per game. Virginia, on the other hand, has had trouble keeping its opponents off the offensive boards, as was the case in UVA's loss at North Carolina. At Notre Dame on Saturday, the Cavaliers kept themselves in the game by outrebounding the Irish 39-26, including a 12-4 margin on the offensive glass. Virginia does not necessarily need to dominate the offensive boards, but gaining some extra possessions in what figures to be a very low-possession game could be the difference.

Hoos bounce back again?

Virginia is 8-0 this season in games immediately following a loss. That is inherently both a good and a bad trend. The Cavaliers undoubtedly want to start a winning streak, but that begins by extending their record in games coming off of a loss to 9-0 as the Hoos look to bounce back after Saturday's loss at Notre Dame.

Game Details

By the Numbers

Opponent Breakdown: Boston College

What to Watch For

Read more from Cavaliers Now