Know Your Opponent: Boston College

By Bobby Hundley

Boston College (BCEagles.com)
Location: Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Rankings: BC - No. 71 KenPom, NR AP; UNC - No. 12 KenPom, No. 20 AP
Records: BC - 11-5, 2-2 ACC; UNC - 12-4, 1-2 ACC
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 16-5 (UNC 90, BC 82, Jan. 21, 2017, Conte Forum)

For the second straight year, Boston College has split its first four ACC contests, beating Duke and Wake Forest at home while losing at Virginia (by 1) and at home to Clemson (by 4). But the hope is that the similarities between 2017 and 2018 end there, and it seems safe to assume that this season's Eagles are not destined to repeat last year's collapse that saw them go from 9-8 to 9-23.

A season-ending injury to Deontae Hawkins has thinned out what was already one of the thinnest rotations in college basketball, but what BC lacks in bodies, they make up for in playmakers. Jerome Robinson and Ky Bowman (North Carolina natives, you may have heard) are dynamic guards who can take over games against anyone. Robinson has scored at least 25 points in three straight games, while Bowman went off for 30 (and 10 rebounds and nine assists) in the win over Duke.

Bowman's shooting numbers are down from his breakout freshman campaign, but other stats that are trending up for him are interesting. Despite being a 6-1 point guard, Bowman is BC's best defensive rebounder. Through four ACC games, he ranks 11th in the entire conference in defensive rebounding percentage and is the only player in the top 16 in the category shorter than 6-6. He's also become a better ball handler, with assist rates on the rise and a turnover rate that is down significantly from last year.

Two other players have joined Robinson and Bowman in the "basically never leave the court" category in conference play - junior wing Jordan Chapman and freshman forward Steffon Mitchell. Saturday against Wake, Robinson, Bowman, Chapman and Mitchell played 154 of 160 possible minutes. It is helpful, then, that all four are able to avoid foul trouble - only Robinson has fouled out of a game this year among the quartet. As a team, BC ranks 16th nationally in opponent free throw rate while managing to rank in the top 100 in all the major shooting defense categories.

Bosnian sophomore Nik Popovic generally rounds out the starting five, with Johncarlos Reyes and Luka Kraljevic adding support up front. At 6-11, Popovic is the team's best shot blocker as well as an important offensive rebounder. The impact of Bowman on the defensive glass has allowed the Eagles to stay competitive in that category despite the loss of Hawkins.

The Boston College profile is an interesting one because it basically lacks any non-conference wins of note. In their three top-100 contests outside the league, the Eagles fell to Texas Tech, Providence and Nebraska, meaning their best non-ACC win came against La Salle. With an official NCAA RPI of 76 and a non-conference strength of schedule at 280, it's anyone's guess just how many ACC wins it would take for BC to merit NCAA consideration. But a win at Carolina to pair with the Duke victory would certainly be a nice place to start for a team that hasn't seen its name revealed on Selection Sunday since 2009.

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