Boston College charges into regular-season finale vs. Louisville

Field Level Media|published: Fri 8th March, 16:25 2024

Mar 6, 2024; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Boston College Eagles forward Quinten Post (12) controls the basketball against the Miami Hurricanes during the second half at Watsco Center. credits: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

A visit to reeling Louisville should offer visiting Boston College a prime opportunity to build momentum heading into the upcoming ACC tournament.

The visiting Eagles look to close the regular season Saturday by winning back-to-back games for the second time in a month, while potentially handing the Cardinals a seventh straight defeat.

Boston College (16-14, 7-12) appears in good shape to grab the No. 11 seed in next week's ACC tournament. The Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak with Wednesday's 67-57 win at Miami, Fla.

Quinten Post had 19 points with nine rebounds, as he and Mason Madsen combined for seven of the 10 made 3-pointers for the Eagles, who also held Miami to 33.8-percent shooting.

Post is averaging 24.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in the last three games for Boston College, which most recently won consecutive games Feb. 13 and 17.

"We've got one game left, and we want to try to prepare the best we can, so we give ourselves the best chance to be successful," Boston College coach Earl Grant said.

With 17 points, Post was one of six Eagles players in double figures during an 89-77 home win over Louisville (8-22, 3-16) on Feb. 13. Boston College shot 56.7 percent, including 11 of 23 (47.8 percent) from distance in that contest.

Last in the ACC, the Cardinals have allowed an average of 82.2 points, and opponents to shoot 50.6 percent overall — 47.9 from 3-point range — during their six-game skid that began with the defeat to BC.

Louisville, which has been outscored by an average margin of 18 points during the slide, yielded 13 makes from 3-point range in Tuesday's 80-64 home loss to Virginia Tech.

"We're trying to figure it out, (trying) to keep trusting one another and trust in our game plan, and recognizing who we are and focus on exactly that coming into each game," said Louisville forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, who had 19 points Tuesday.

The 6-foot-10 Huntley-Hatfield, who departed briefly Tuesday with a knee injury, has been one of the few bright spots for Louisville while averaging 17.3 points and 8.1 rebounds in the last nine games. He recorded 21 with nine boards at Boston College last month.

—Field Level Media