By Derek DeBurger

Louisville will attempt to win back-to-back ACC wins for the first time in the Kenny Payne era, this time against the Boston College Eagles.

As the schedule has lightened up in February Louisville has garnered some momentum. The Cards have moved into 13th place in the ACC with a chance to improve even more. The Eagles currently sit in 12th place. A win wouldn’t have the Cards jump the Eagles, but it would keep their momentum going and give them the tiebreaker until the teams meet again.

While far from the best team in the ACC, Boston College is one of the oldest teams in the conference. The two most important players for the Eagles, forward/center Quinten Post and guard Jaeden Zackery, have been together for three seasons now. Post is the Eagles leader in points, rebounds, blocks, and field goal percentage while Zackery is the team leader in assists and steals. Guard Claudell Harris has also been an extremely impactful transfer adding important contributions in most major categories.

Usually, Boston College teams typically field a physical defense and an offense that leaves something to be desired. This season seems flipped; Boston College has an alright offense and a worse defense than normal. KenPom rates the Eagles’ offensive efficiency as the 70th best in the country, and they’ve done so by holding onto the ball at an astonishing rate. Boston College only commits 10.5 turnovers a game, and they have the 27th-lowest percentage of non-steal turnovers, so they very rarely shoot themselves in the foot.

Given that Post is a 7’ center, it’s not surprising that 53% of their offensive output comes inside the arc. Despite having such a presence inside, the Eagles tend to get outscored at the free-throw line. For a team like Louisville who has done a surprisingly fantastic job getting to the line, that might have to be the approach the Cards take to pull off a win.

Defensively, the Eagles are pretty mediocre. They rank 138th on KenPom in defensive efficiency, possessing the 11th-worst defense in the ACC according to the same metrics. This would bode well for the Cards, except Boston College plays with a slow tempo. The Cards should try to speed the Eagles up to put the game more in their favor, but it’s much easier to slow down.

Given that this game is in Chestnut Hill, I’m not expecting a Louisville victory. But it’s not out of the picture.

Photo Courtesy // Chris Carter, U of L Athletics