TV info, story lines for U of L-BC
This is all assuming Louisville and BC actually play Wednesday night, which is still an iffy proposition. The weather in Boston is, and this isn't an exaggeration, awful. A lot goes into decisions like this, including whether the roads and area around the arena are safe enough for event personnel to safely get there. BC needs its support staff there to put on a game.
U OF L AT BOSTON COLLEGE
Game time: 9 p.m. Site: Conte Forum, Boston. Line: Louisville by 8 1/2 points. Series: BC leads 3-2, but U of L won the last meeting, 89-85, in overtime, in 1996. Television: WHAS (Tim Brant, Dan Bonner). Radio: WHAS-840.
PROJECTED STARTERS
BC (9-9, 1-5 ACC)
Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
G-Dimitri Batten 6-3 Gr. 2.7 7.7
G-Olivier Hanlan 6-4 Jr. 4.2 16.8
G-Patrick Heckmann 6-5 Sr. 4.4 8.4
G-Aaron Brown 6-5 Gr. 3.2 14.0
C-Dennis Clifford 7-0 Jr. 5.6 7.8
Key reserves - Will Magarity, C, 6-11, So., 3.6 pts.; Garland Owens, G/F, 6-5, So., 3.0; Eddie Odio, F, 6-8, Sr., 2.9; John Cain Carney, F, 6-9, Sr., 0.6; Alex Dragicevich, F, 6-8, Sr., 1.2.
LOUISVILLE (16-3, 4-2 ACC)
Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.
G-Chris Jones 5-10 Sr. 3.7 12.6
G-Terry Rozier 6-1 So. 5.3 17.8
F-Wayne Blackshear 6-5 Sr. 5.1 11.9
F-Montrezl Harrell 6-8 Jr. 9.1 15.1
C-Chinanu Onuaku 6-10 Fr. 5.2 3.6
Key reserves – Mangok Mathiang, C, 6-10, R-So., 3.4 pts.; Shaqquan Aaron, G, 6-7, Fr., 2.4; Anas Mahmoud, F, 7-0, Fr., 1.4; Anton Gill, G, 6-3, So., 3.1; Quentin Snider, G, 6-1, Fr., 2.0; David Levitch, G, 6-3, So., 2.0; Jaylen Johnson, F, 6-9, Fr., 1.5; Matz Stockman, C, 7-0, Fr., 1.0.
STORY LINES
Louisville's coming off its best shooting performance since 1993, and it was a good one. The Cards made 65.2 percent of their shots, the highest percentage allowed by a Jamie Dixon-coached team and the highest percentage by a Pitt opponent in the Petersen Evens Center. And that 1993 performance? U of L shot a whopping 70 percent against Tulane.
Boston College, much like Virginia Tech, is in a transition season under new coach Jim Christian, who previously coached at Ohio. Christian was recruited by Rick Pitino as a high school player and signed to play for him at Boston University. Christian transferred two years after Pitino had left BU, but the coaches' paths have crossed a few times since, including Christian's three-year stint as an assistant at WKU when Pitino was the head man at Kentucky.
The actual matchup, on paper, heavily favors Louisville. BC struggles with turnovers, 3-point shooting and offensive rebounding, and ranks 157th in the nation in offensive efficiency. BC defends the 3 well -- opponents shoot 29.8 percent from distance -- but that's really the only stat that appears to help the Eagles.