University of North Carolina Athletics
Know Your Opponent: Boston College
January 30, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Boston College (BCEagles.com)
Location: Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Rankings: BC - No. 256 KenPom, NR AP; UNC - No. 5 KenPom, No. 2 AP
Records: BC - 7-13, 0-7 ACC; UNC - 18-2, 7-0 ACC
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): Carolina leads 13-5 (UNC 81, Boston College 63, March 11, 2015, Greensboro Coliseum)
Boston College is off to its worst start as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference and is in serious danger of replacing the 2-16 Virginia Tech teams of the last two seasons with the worst ACC record since the league expanded to 18 conference games in 2012-13. Even last year's BC squad, which started 1-14, had competitive losses to Pitt, Miami and Syracuse before breaking through against Georgia Tech. The 2015 Eagles even closed the regular season with three straight wins and defeated the Yellow Jackets a second time in Greensboro before falling to Carolina in the second round.
Second-year head coach Jim Christian lost seven seniors from last year's team but more damaging was the early departure of first-team All-ACC guard and leading scorer Olivier Hanlan. Hanlan, who topped 20 points nine times against ACC opponents and went for 30 or more four times in a six-game February stretch, now plies his trade for BC ?algiris in the Lithuanian league. Overall, Christian lost 84 percent of his team's scoring from last year and 79 percent of its minutes played.
The schedule has certainly done the Eagles no favors, either. BC has already played Notre Dame twice and gone on the road to Syracuse and Pitt, and the Eagles are facing a four-game stretch of at Carolina, at Virginia, at Louisville and home for Carolina over the next 11 days.
On a roster with seven freshmen, its a veteran newcomer who has led the 2015-16 Eagles. Eli Carter, who played two seasons at Rutgers and parts of two seasons at Florida, leads the Eagles in scoring as a graduate student. The 6-2 feature guard has a permanent green light - at 34.7 percent, Carter has taken more of his team's shots in conference play than anyone in the league. He's especially prolific from deep, where he's attempted 134 3s overall and 55 in seven league contests.
Fifth-year senior big man Dennis Clifford is healthy now after an injury-plagued career and leads the Eagles in rebounding. The 7-footer has struggled from the field in ACC play, but ranks in the top 15 in the conference in free throw rate, defensive rebounding percentage and block percentage.
Of the seven freshmen on the team, 6-5 guard Jerome Robinson has had the biggest impact. A native of Raleigh, Robinson is BC's second-leading scorer and rebounder while averaging a team-high 35.1 minutes per game in conference play. The Broughton grad represents the future for a program that is dealing with a rough present.
