Wake Forest vs Boston College: Preview and Prediction
It's Senior Night in Winston-Salem as Wake Forest hosts Boston College.
Gameday Info
Location: LJVM Coliseum - Winston-Salem, NC
Tipoff: 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU
Spread: Wake Forest -8
Total: 146.5
Boston College Team Overview:
Record: 14-15 (8-10)
KenPom: 168th (250th Offensive, 108th Defensive)
Recent Games: W 63-48 vs Virginia, W 75-69 at Florida State, L 77-58 at Pitt
Leading Scorers:
Sr. F Quinten Post (15.9 ppg, 6.1 reb, 44.7 3P%)
Sr. G Makai Ashton-Langford (12.2 ppg, 3.4 reb, 2.7 ast)
So. G Jaeden Zackery (10.1 ppg, 3.0 reb, 2.7 ast)
Boston College has to be one of the best teams in the country with a losing record. The Eagles enter this matchup as winners of two in a row.
Wednesday night's dominant 15-point win over then No. 6 Virginia is one of the program's best wins in years. That's the Eagles third AP Top 25 win of the season. Earl Grant's team isn't the most talented, but they are strong defensively and boast a balanced scoring attack.
Nine guys logged double digit minutes last time out.
Dutch big man Quinten Post is the team's clear best player. He missed all of non-conference play with an injury, but since then, he's been playing at an All-ACC level. He only scored eight points in the upset of Virginia, but he's notched 20+ in six of his last ten games.
Makai Ashton-Langford is an experienced guard who has the ball in his hands a lot. He broke his four game streak of single digit scoring outputs with 16 points against the Cavaliers. Jaden Zackery is the next most involved guy in the backcourt, and although he isn't shooting it as well as he did last season (47.7 3P% in 2021-22), he's still capable from the perimeter and a solid defender
Boston College ranks second to last in the ACC in points per game (64.5) and three-point percentage (31.7%). They do however rank fourth in turnovers forced (12.8) per game, and sixth in scoring defense (69.9).
Wake Forest Team Overview:
Record: 18-11 (10-8)
KenPom: 83rd (33rd Offensive, 157th Defensive)
Recent Games: W 66-58 vs Boston College, L 90-74 at NC State, L 96-87 at Miami
Leading scorers:
Gr. G Tyree Appleby (18.6 ppg, 6.2 ast, 1.7 stl)
Jr. G Damari Monsanto (13.3 ppg, 3.7 reb, 40.5 3PT%)
So. G Cameron Hildreth (12.6 ppg, 5.6 reb, 2.7 ast)
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have faded away from the bubble, entering Saturday on a two game losing streak. Steve Forbes was able to get his guys to respond well and avoid an embarrassing loss to Notre Dame.
The big news with this program is the loss of Damari Monsanto, who suffered a knee injury in the loss to NC State a week ago. Monsanto is the best three-point shooter on the team and arguably in the ACC, so his absence is a massive blow.
Wake has to ride Tyree Appleby even more now as a result. Appleby answered the call on Saturday with a 21 point, six assist, four steal effort against the Irish. He turned the ball over just two times after committing 20 combined in the previous three games.
Joining him in double figures were Andrew Carr and Bobi Klintman. Carr scored 11, and has now scored 11+ in three straight games. Klintman, in his first start, notched a 10 point 12 rebound double-double.
If Wake has any hopes of making noise in the ACC Tournament, Cameron Hildreth needs to play his best basketball. Hildreth is stumbling into this matchup after a 1-9 shooting performance on Saturday.
The Deacs rank third in the ACC in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency rating in conference play, while coming in at ninth defensively.
Flashback: Jan. 14 2023 - Wake Forest wins at Boston College 85-63
Wake Forest led by as much as 18 in the first half in this dominating win. BC cut the margin to eight at the beginning of the second half, but the Deacs quickly stretched the lead back to double digits and didn't look back.
Wake shot 10-26 (38.5%) from long range in the win. Andrew Carr scored 21 points and grabbed 13 boards, while Cam Hildreth added 20 points and six assists. Boston College turned the ball over 15 times, and shot 38.2% from the field.
Prediction:
I was worried about Wake Forest heading into the Notre Dame game, fearing a lack of energy with Monsanto out and their at-large hopes shot. The Deacs didn't play great, and Notre Dame was without two key players themselves, but they were still able to secure an eight point victory.
Boston College had Saturday off and has had plenty of time to prepare for this game. The Eagles have struggled against high powered offenses, which is why Wake was able to cruise when these teams met in January.
I expect Wake to take care of business again on Tuesday night, but eight points feels like far too many to lay. BC enters this game with momentum, and just because the Deacs took care of that sorry Notre Dame group doesn't mean my concerns of how they will finish this season are resolved.
Monsanto makes this team so much better. If he was out there, I would be far more confident in Wake cruising to a double digit win here. Instead, this scrappy Eagles squad will likely come out swinging, and hang around until the end.
The Pick: Boston College +8
Final Score Prediction: Wake Forest 71 Boston College 66
Season prediction record
16-13 ATS
22-7 Straight up
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