It’s been an up-and-down ride for the Boston College men’s basketball team in the past week or so. After winning three straight games and claiming the Cayman Islands Classic championship over Boise State, the Eagles then flew home and lost to Dartmouth, who are supposed to be one of the worst D1 teams in the country. With expectations now out the window, BC will play in the ACC/SEC challenge against South Carolina on Tuesday evening.
Who: Boston College Eagles (6-2) vs South Carolina Gamecocks (4-3)
Where: Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA
When: Tuesday December 3rd, 2024
Tip-off Time: 7pm ET
How to Watch: This game will be broadcast live on the ACC Network and streamed live here
The Gamecocks are off to a rough start as well, after a close loss to the North Florida Ospreys in their home opener put a damper on their outlook to start the season. But since then, South Carolina has won every game they were supposed to win and have only dropped additional losses to ranked opponents #16 Indiana and #22 Xavier. Kenpom has SCAR sitting at #77 in the overall rankings, solidly above Boston College at #127.
In their latest game, a win over Virginia Tech, it was the wings that got it done for the Gamecocks. 6’8” Zachary Davis, 6’4” Morris Ugusuk, and 6’7” Collin Murray-Boyles each scored double-digits on the way to a gritty 10-point victory. Ugusuk lit up the scoresheet from beyond the arc while the others fought their way into the paint and gave the Hokies a bruising down low, forcing fouls and tiring out their opponents. And that’s been a common theme for their defense as well, rarely letting opponents score more than 70 points in the games that they’ve won and keeping shot percentages low. It will be key for Boston College to get their offense going early if they want to win this match-up, because South Carolina knows how to hunker down and win close, physical ball games. Look for Donald Hand and Joshua Beadle to try and push the pace of the game.
Other SCAR players to watch out for include their senior guards, Jamarii Thomas and Jacobi Wright. Wright has been a Gamecock for four seasons now, while Thomas transferred in from Norfolk State and is still getting acclimated. Both players are averaging double-digit scoring so far this season, though haven’t been knocking down threes as much as they would like to, especially in their losses to Xavier and Indiana. BC will have to be much more disciplined with their perimeter defense than they were against Dartmouth, or otherwise these experienced ball-handlers could get back into a groove and make them pay.