NC State Wolfpack basketball (7-7, 3-6 ACC) continues conference play Saturday against Boston College at 12:00 p.m. in Conte Forum on ACC Network.
The Eagles are 3-10 (1-6 ACC) under head coach Jim Christian in his seventh season with the program. Boston College is coming off of an 80-70 road loss to Notre Dame on Jan. 16.
Saturday will mark the first time the Eagles have played in three weeks. Boston College was prepared to play Florida State on Tuesday with just four scholarship players available due to COVID protocols within the program, but the Seminoles had to postpone the game due to COVID problems within their own program.
The Pack is also coming off of a loss, a 64-57 defeat to No. 14 Virginia on Wednesday night.
Here is the scouting report on Boston College:
Season Overview
Boston College's 3-10 overall record is somewhat misleading. The Eagles' low winning percentage has been the victim of playing one of the toughest schedules in the conference.
BC has played just two teams this season that ranked outside of the KenPom top 100 and won both contests. The Eagles' best win so far was against Rhode Island, who ranks No. 68 according to KenPom.
NC State is the lowest-ranked team that Boston College has lost to according to KenPom, and the Wolfpack would become the second-best win on the Eagles' resume in the event of a BC victory Saturday.
Boston College was projected to finish 14th in the conference in the preseason ACC media poll.
Rankings
Boston College is ranked No. 129 in the NET rankings (NC State is No. 91), which makes Saturday's contest a "quad two" game for the Pack.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Eagles ranked No. 108 (NC State is No. 52), and KenPom.com has BC ranked No. 96 (NC State is No. 73).
Boston College is also ranked No. 197 in the old RPI formula used by the NCAA — according to RealTimeRPI.com.
Shooting
Shooting is the strength of this Boston College team.
The Eagles rank 30th in the country in three-point field goal makes per game (9.5). BC also averages 9.7 three-point makes per game in league play, which leads the ACC.
Boston College is 98th nationally in effective field goal percentage (51.6 percent) and ranks 127th in three-point shooting (34.5 percent) and 107th in two-point efficiency (51.5 percent).
The Eagles heavily rely on scoring production from the perimeter. 46.4 percent of BC's shot attempts are from beyond the arc, the 21st highest rate in Division I. In league play, the Eagles shoot 46.6 percent of attempts from three, which leads the ACC.
That should present an intriguing matchup of strengths Saturday considering NC State leads the ACC in forcing teams off of the perimeter, holding opponents to just 31.8 percent of attempts from three. The Wolfpack's defensive effective field goal percentage of 55.1 in conference play is the worst in the ACC, however.
Advantage: NC State
Rebounding
Boston College is about on par with NC State on the glass. The Eagles have a slight advantage on the defensive end, and the Wolfpack has had more success on the offensive end.
The Eagles average 33.6 rebounds per game, which ranks 267th nationally.
BC rebounds 25.5 percent of its offensive misses, which ranks 238th among Division I teams, but forfeits an offensive rebound to opponents on 28.2 percent of forced misses, good for 184th nationally.
Advantage: Tie
Defense
Boston College has an adjusted defensive efficiency of 99.9 (points per 100 possessions), which ranks 139th nationally according to KenPom.
The Eagles have fared well in event creation on the defensive end but have struggled to stop teams from shooting at a high clip.
BC ranks 112th nationally in steal rate (10 percent) and 48th in block rate (11.8 percent).
Boston College has a defensive effective field goal percentage of 54.3, which ranks 316th among Division I teams. The Eagles have allowed opponents to shoot 56 percent on two-point attempts (323rd in NCAA) and 34.2 percent from the perimeter (211th nationally).
Advantage: NC State
Depth
When healthy, Boston College plays eight-deep. The problem this Saturday for the Eagles is that it may not have all of its scholarship players available.
According to Christian, the Eagles only had four scholarship players that were ready to suit up for the Tuesday night matchup with Florida State that was later-postponed due to COVID issues in the Seminoles program.
BC will probably have more than four scholarship players available Saturday considering the Eagles haven't played in three weeks, but it likely won't have a full stock of its normal personnel.
Boston College has received 29.4 percent of its minutes this season off of the bench, which ranks 226th nationally.
Advantage: NC State
Player to Watch
Sophomore guard Jay Heath leads the Eagles in scoring this season.
He's averaging 13.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists (tied for second on the team) per game.
In the first meeting against the Wolfpack back in December, Heath scored 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including a 3-of-6 mark from beyond the arc. He also added one rebound and one steal in 30 minutes but finished with the lowest plus-minus rating on the team with a -11 mark in the 79-76 loss to NC State.
Heath averages a team-high 6.1 three-point attempts per contest and has shot 35.6 percent from deep.
Numbers of Note
15 Points was NC State's largest lead in the first half of the first meeting with the Eagles this season. Boston College ended the first half on a 5-0 run to cut the halftime lead to 10 before eventually taking a four-point lead late in the second half. The Wolfpack finished the contest on a 10-3 run to come away with the 79-76 victory.
21 Points is what fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk finished with in the first meeting with Boston College this season. The total led the Wolfpack that night and still remains Funderburk's season-high through 10 games. He also finished with five rebounds in 30 minutes in what was Funderburk's first game back in three weeks after returning to the lineup off of COVID protocols in December.
4-2 Is head coach Kevin Keatts' record against Boston College during his time with the Wolfpack. NC State last defeated the Eagles 79-76 in Raleigh this season. Both of Keatts' losses to BC have either been on the road or on a neutral court. The Wolfpack lost 71-68 in Conte Forum last season and dropped Keatts' ACC Tournament debut to the Eagles 91-87 in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in 2018.
Likely Starters
NC State
G — 3 Cam Hayes (6-3, 175, Fr., 6.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 3.2 apg)
G — 10 Braxton Beverly (6-0, 180, Sr., 6.5 ppg, 2.5 apg, 1.5 spg)
G — 5 Thomas Allen (6-1, 180, R-Jr., 7.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.3 apg)
F — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 205, Jr., 13.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.3 apg)
C — 15 Manny Bates (6-11, 230, R-So., 9.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 3.2 bpg)
Boston College
G – 4 Makai Ahston-Langford (6-3, 185, Jr., 9.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.7 apg)
G – 10 Wynston Tabbs (6-2, 193, So. 13.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.8 apg)
G – 5 Jay Heath (6-3, 175, So., 13.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.2 apg)
G – 1 CJ Felder (6-7, 230, So., 9.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.2 bpg)
F – 41 Steffon Mitchell (6-8, 220, Sr., 8.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.3 apg)
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