GAME INFO:
January 2, 2021
1:00pm pm Tip Off
Conte Forum (Capacity: 8,606)
Chestnut Hill, MA
TV: ESPN2
UNC is given a 60.8% chance to win by ESPN
Records:
UNC: 9-3 (1-0 in ACC)
Boston College: 6-5 (1-0 in ACC)
Last Time Out:
UNC: Beat App St. 70-50 (12/21/21)
Boston College: Lost to Albany 57-61 (12/13/21) Have had last 2 games postponed
SERIES INFO:
• The Tar Heels are 18-6 against the Eagles, including 16-5 since BC joined the ACC prior to the 2005-06 season.
• Carolina is 8-1 in Conte Forum and has won the last six times the teams have played in Chestnut Hill.
• The Tar Heels defeated BC 12 straight games before the Eagles edged UNC, 71-70, in the Smith Center on 2/1/2020.
• Armando Bacot and Leaky Black are the only current Tar Heels who played in the 2020 game. Bacot had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Cole Anthony led UNC with 26 points.
• The teams did not play each other in 2020-21. The only scheduled game was to be played in Chapel Hill on 2/23/21, but the game was canceled due to Covid protocols in the Eagle program.
Team Leaders
Points:
UNC: Bacot (15.1 PPG)
Boston College.: D. Langford Jr. (12.1 PPG)
Rebounds:
UNC: Bacot (9.8)
Boston College: T.J. Bickerstaff (7.6)
Assists:
UNC: Love (3.7)
Boston College: M. Ashton-Langford (3.4)
App St. Notes
Armando Bacot had 16 points on 7-9 shooting, 2-4 FT, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals, 2 TOs
RJ Davis had 15 points on 7-10 shooting, 1-1 from 3, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 TO
Caleb Love had 11 points on 4-8 shooting, 2-5 from 3, 1-1 FT, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 TOs
Brady Manek had 11 points on 5-9 shooting, 1-3 from 3, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 TOs
Kerwin Walton had 6 points on 2-5 shooting, 2-3 from 3, 4 rebounds
TEAM STATS:
46.8% FG (29-62)
43.8% 3 PT (7-16)
55.6% FT (5-9)
47 rebounds
17 assists
15 turnovers
3 blocks
2 steals
Happy 2022 ya’ll!!!! I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year. I spent it in Old Town Alexandria and it was super cool. But if you are reading this then it means we finally have Carolina basketball again. Well it means the game is still scheduled as i’m typing this. Before We dive into the Boston College part of the preview, I think it’s worth discussing the lack of leadership by the ACC in terms of the whole Covid situation.
The ACC’s lack of leadership with the ever growing COVID complications has been disappointing. They changed the rules from a forfeit to requiring schools to play if they have 7 players and a coach available. The 7 player rule is almost impossible to enforce because teams can just claim through contact tracing that most if not all of the players were in contact with someone who tested positive if they don't wish to play the game. It is not likely the games will get rescheduled unless the conference wants to start playing 3 games a week or prolong the season. I don't believe it should be the team’s responsibility to go find another opponent after they had their game canceled by no fault of their own. On Wednesday you had multiple teams who had their games canceled. At least half of those teams could have been eligible to play. The ACC should have facilitated the scheduling of replacement games. UNC could have played Clemson or FSU, but instead sat at home. There should also be game requirements for ACC standings. The teams shouldn't get punished for playing games while others sit at home due to COVID. Either way something needs to change. I don’t believe forfeits are the answer. Winning a game due to forfeit isn’t going to help a NCAA tournament resume. Losing games by forfeit probably won’t hurt one either. It’s something the NCAA selection committee will definitely consider. If you win 10 conference games and 5 of them are because of covid forfeits then you really didn’t win 10 conference games. Something has to give though. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is insanity.
The Tar Heels get a more favorable matchup on Sunday facing Boston College albeit it is an away game. The Heels last game was on 12/21 against App St. The game was so long ago it’s almost not worth mentioning. The last time the Heels had a long break they had earned a decisive victory over Michigan. Let’s hope the break has been put to good use. It has allowed for more practices which means Hubert has had more time to watch guys during practices. Guys have had more time to compete and EARN playing time. And the team has had more time to develop more chemistry. Hopefully this will be the reset the Heels needed as their January schedule is quite favorable despite their first 3 conference games being on the road (played Georgia Tech on the road and then go to Notre Dame after this game).
Speaking of Notre Dame, that is the only “good” win to the Eagles’ credit so far this year. Notre Dame did beat Kentucky just a couple of weeks ago. The Eagles do have a lot of “bad” losses to their credit though. They have lost to Rhode Island twice and also have losses to Saint Louis and Albany. They have also failed to put away lesser opponents in other wins.
This is not a good offensive team as they average just over 67 points a game. They are 125th in the latest KENPOM ratings. UNC is 36th by comparison. The Eagles run through their guards including Langford Jr, Ashton-Langford and Zackery. The starters and bench are as follows:
STARTERS:
T. J Bickerstaff F (JR 6-9)
J. Karnik C (SR 6-9)
J. Zackery G (FR 6-2)
D. Langford Jr. G (SO 6-5)
M. Ashton-Langford G (Grad. 6-3)
BENCH:
Q. Post F (JR 7-0)
K. Jones G (FR 6-4)
G. Thompson F (FR 6-8)
B. Galloway G (Grad 6-2)
F. Scott F (Grad 6-8)
Their starters have been pretty consistent most of the year. Post started in place of Karnik in their first loss to Rhode Island and Utah, and he is their most productive bench player contributing 6 double figure games. They stick with a 7-8 man rotation and again Post is their most consistent bench player. All the guys listed have seen playing time off the bench but Post and Jones are the most consistently used guys.
The Eagles are led by Langford Jr and Ashton-Langford in terms of scoring. They have both had 9 double figure games. Zackery has had 7 such games. Bickertaff has had 5 and Karnik has had 3 to round out the starters. Jones has had 1 double figure game off the bench.
The Eagles have a mix of experienced players and younger guys. Their rotation features 2 graduate students.
Langford Jr leads the team in minutes at 36.1 a game. Ashton-Langford and Zackery average over 30 a game. Post, Bickerstaff, and Karnik average 20 minutes or more. Galloway and Jones average between 10-20 minutes. Scott averages 9.4. Thompson averages 7.
So obviously expect a heavy dose of Eagle guards as all 3 starting guards will play the majority of the game. The Heels should once again have a size advantage despite the 7-footer, Post. This should benefit the Heels on the offensive end, but the Eagle forwards will shoot the ball from behind the arc which has proven to be a problem for our bigs so far this year. The Eagles aren’t a team that shoots the 3 a bunch and definitely doesn’t rely on it, but if our bigs play off theirs on the perimeter then there is a potential for that to hurt us. The sample size of each big isn’t huge, but they will shoot the 3 nonetheless. 3 point percentages for relevant players are below:
Ashton-Langford 32.4% (11-34)
Langford Jr 33.3% (1-3)
Zackery 50% (15-30)
Bickerstaff 43.8% (7-16)
Karnik 42.9% (6-14)
Post 33.3% (4-12)
One thing that jumps out is that Langford Jr has only attempted 3 3-pointers all year. He gets his points by getting in the lane. Our guards have struggled to stop dribble penetration at times this year. The guards do present some matchup problems. RJ Davis is a small guard and will end up guarding a bigger guard no matter who gets what assignment. Zackery is the best 3 point shooter but is the shortest guard. He still has a couple of inches of RJ, but I'm guessing he will be Davis’ assignment to begin with. Black probably matches up against Langford Jr, and Love gets Ashton-Langford. Garcia probably gets Karnik and Bacot matches up with Bickerstaff. This is also a game that could see Harris get extended minutes if Love or Davis are unable to defend. I think Walton has an opportunity to get some extended minutes in this game as well.
This game can be as easy or hard as we make it. If we take care of business then this game should take care of itself. Playing Boston College instead of Virginia Tech (even though that wasn’t how this was supposed to work) may be a blessing in disguise if the right team shows up to play.
THINGS TO WATCH FOR:
Rotation (The Heels have had a lot of time to practice and therefore a lot of time to earn playing time. Do we see an expanded rotation?
Energy/Effort (The last time we had a huge layoff, it ended up pretty well, but that game was at home. How do we start the game? Do we play with energy for 40 minutes? Do we win those 50/50 balls? Which team shows up?)
Dribble Drive Defense (This isn’t a great 3 point shooting Eagles team. Their leading scorer relies on getting into the paint. Can our guards keep their man in front of them consistently?)
More of Walton (Love getting in foul trouble may have been the best thing to happen for Walton against App St. He hit 2 of his 3 pointers and looked more comfortable shooting. Do we see more of Walton? What about set plays for him?)
Clean it up Caleb (Love had 5 assists against App st which is great. Not great? He had 6 turnovers. We can’t have one of our main facilitators committing that many turnovers. He also got into foul trouble. Look for a bounce back game from the Sophomore.)
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