NC State kick-starts its ACC schedule with a game at 5-2 Boston College at 4 p.m. Saturday on ACC Network.
The Wolfpack are 4-2 overall and coming off a 72-52 loss at Ole Miss in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday. Boston College hammered Vanderbilt 80-62 in the Challenge on Wednesday to snap a two-game losing streak. The Eagles had lost to both Colorado State and Loyola of Chicago.
Overview
Boston College went with a youth movement last year under coach Earl Grant.
The team predictably struggled in going 16-17 overall and 9-11 in the ACC, but players such as forwards Prince Aligbe and Devin McGlockton got experience.
Senior center Quinten Post and junior guard Jaeden Zackery have been the building blocks the last two years, and Charleston Southern transfer Claudell Harris has arrived on the wing.
Rankings
Boston College was No. 166 in the NET rankings, and NC State was No. 43 last year.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Eagles ranked No. 106 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 63.
KenPom.com has Boston College at No. 95, and NCSU checks in at No. 75 this season.
RealtimeRPI.com has Boston College was ranked No. 56 in the country, and NC State is No. 133.
Shooting
Boston College is averaging 75.3 points per game and shooting 46.3 percent from the field, 33.6 percent on three-pointers and 83.2 percent on free-throws this season.
Post is shooting lights out on three-pointers at 51.7 percent and Harris is more than capable at 36.8 percent. The other three starters are a combined 5 of 28 on three-pointers.
Rebounding
BC is averaging 36.9 points per game and have a plus-2.8 rebounding margin this season.
Post leads the Eagles with 8.9 rebounds per game, and McGlockton and Aligbe are combining for 10.1 boards a contest.
Defense
The Eagles are holding opposing teams to 69.3 points per game, 37.4 percent on three-pointers and 42.8 percent from the field.
Post is averaging 2.3 blocks per game and McGlockton is chipping in 1.4 blocks a contest. Zackery leads the team with 2.1 steals a contest.
Depth
Boston College has been playing four players off the bench with Mason Madsen and Donald Hand Jr. the main reserves. Madsen is at 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and Hand is 4.3 points per game. NC State recruited Hand, who dad played at Virginia.
Sophomore Armani Mighty is the lone post player off the bench at 6-10 and 240-pounds. Freshman power forward Elijah Strong of Charlotte (N.C.) Myers Park could also play if needed.
Star Watch
Boston College senior center Quinten Post has become one of the best players in the ACC.
That would have been shocking after he transferred in from Mississippi State in 2021-22, where he scored a combined 95 points in 39 games.
The 7-foot, 235-pound Post is a good example where he’s gotten better each and ever season, and now he’s peaking with 21.3 points per game, 8.9 rebounds and a surprising 2.3 blocks per contest. He’s shooting 53.5 percent from the field and a blistering 15 of 29 from three-point land for 51.7 percent. The latter isn’t a fluke as he shot 42.6 percent from beyond the arc last year.
Post and BC have only played one high major program this season, but he had 24 points, seven rebounds and went 4 of 6 on three-pointers in a 80-62 win Wednesday.
Post had 20 points and 19 rebounds in a 73-64 win over Harvard on Nov. 18, and 31 points, 11 rebounds and 5 of 6 on three-pointers in a 89-70 win over Fairfield on Nov. 6.
Post had a big first half against NC State last year, and finished with 20 points and five rebounds in a 92-62 Wolfpack win on Feb. 11, 2023.
The native of Amsterdam, Netherlands, had 18 points and went 9 of 10 from the field in a 69-61 win at NC State on Feb. 23, 2022.
Likely Starters
NC State
PG — 0 DJ Horne (6-1, 175, R-Sr., 11.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.7 spg)
SG — 1 Jayden Taylor (6-4, 195, Jr., 13.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.3 spg)
G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Sr., 14.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.7 apg)
PF — 11 Dennis Parker (6-6, 205, Fr., 6.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.5 spg)
C — 30 D.J. Burns (6-9, 275, R-Sr., 13.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.2 spg)
Boston College
PG — 3 Jaeden Zackery (6-2, 220, Jr., 11.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.9 apg, 2.1 spg)
SG — 1 Claudell Harris (6-3, 190, Jr., 13.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.1 spg
SF — 10 Prince Aligbe (6-7, 225, Soph., 7.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.3 apg)
PF — 21 Devin McGlockton (6-7, 230, Soph., 8.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.9 apg, 1.4 bpg)
C — 12 Quinten Post (7-0, 235, Sr., 21.3 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.3 bpg)
Numbers Of Note
7 Players who have scored 2,000-plus career points at BC, with guard Troy Bell (1999-03) leading the way with 2,632 points.
9 Total points Boston College center Quinten Post scored his freshman year in eight games at Mississippi State in 2019-20. He is now averaging 21.3 points per game for the Eagles this season.
18 NCAA Tournament appearances for Boston College — three Elite Eight appearances — but haven’t been since 2009.
Game Within The Game: BC's Claudell Harris vs. NC State's Jayden Taylor
Boston College junior wing Claudell Harris has arrived from Charleston Southern and provided an immediate spark.
The 6-3, 190-pounder averaged 17.4 points and 3.9 rebounds a year ago for Charleston Southern, and shot 33.3 percent from the field.
Harris is averaging 13.4 points and 3.0 rebounds for Boston College through seven games, and has improved to 36.8 percent on three-pointers (14 of 38).
Harris erupted for 22 points, five rebounds and 4 of 6 on three-pointers in the win over Vanderbilt. He also had 19 points and went 4 of 8 on three-pointers in the win over Harvard.
Harris scored at least 20 points 11 times last for Charleston Southern, with a season-high 34 points in a 106-69 crushing win over High Point on Jan. 11, 2023. He followed up the next game with 31 points in a 75-70 loss at Radford. During that two-game stretch, he combined to shoot 10 of 18 on three-pointers.
Jayden Taylor, a Butler transfer, will likely guard Harris. He is averaging 13.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, and is shooting an impressive 45.8 percent on three-pointers (11 of 24).
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