If you tell me you had Boston College on your ACC Tournament bingo card, you need to stop lying, not to me, but to yourself.
Seriously, you’re fooling nobody.
BC, the #11 seed, joined #10 seed NC State as teams from Tuesday’s first round that will now be lacing it up in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
State, which defeated the #7 seed, Syracuse, 83-65, in the first game of the evening session on Wednesday, gets #2 seed Duke on Thursday afternoon; Boston College, after beating #6 seed Clemson, 76-55, in the nightcap Wednesday night, gets #3 seed Virginia late night on Thursday.
The Eagles (19-14) dominated basically from the opening tip, getting out to a nine-point lead seven minutes in, withstanding a brief Clemson (21-11) run after having to sit center Quinten Post due to foul trouble, then leading by as many as 15 before going into the break up 12, at 40-28.
The game never got into single digits in the second half.
The upset sets up a meeting with a UVA team that is, for the moment, on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, but very vulnerable, considering the way the computers view their resume, which is with much disdain.
Clemson, with one significant win since Christmas, at North Carolina on Feb. 6, is considered not only safe in terms of its resume, but is viewed as a likely six or seven seed in the NCAA Tournament when the bids are announced on Sunday.
Virginia (22-9), whose notable wins include Florida on a neutral court and, particularly notably, a road win at Clemson, on Feb. 3, is currently projected as a 10 or 11 seed, which is as close to the cutline you can be.
Clemson is 6-4 in its last 10 and 10-10 since Jan. 1.
Virginia is 6-4 in its last 10 and 12-6 since Jan. 1.
Clemson is where it is because it had nicer wins several months ago.
Yeah, makes total sense.
(Eye roll.)
Beware these Eagles
BC got big nights in the Clemson upset from guards Claudell Harris (27 points, 10-of-22 FG, 5-of-16 3FG) and Jaeden Zackery (22 points, 8-of-12 FG, 4-of-5 3FG).
Post, a Nikola Jokic-type point center, had 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
This is a Boston College team that has now won four straight, and played Virginia tight in a 72-68 loss in Chestnut Hill on Feb. 28.
Post had a monster night in that loss, going for 24 points (6-of-14 FG, 1-of-4 3FG, 11-of-11 FT) and nine rebounds.
Zackery had 12 points (5-of-9 FG, 1-of-1 3FG); Harris had a quiet eight points (3-of-9 FG, 1-of-5 3FG).
Virginia put three guys in double-digits in the win – Reece Beekman (18 points, 5-of-8 FG, 8-of-10 FT, eight assists), Isaac McKneely (14 points, 4-of-8 FG, 3-of-6 3FG, 3-of-4 FT) and Jake Groves (13 points, 5-of-11 FG, 3-of-6 3FG).
How Virginia matches up
Post, a 7-footer who can shoot threes and is a plus passer, isn’t an easy matchup for anybody, but the reason he’s a fifth-year senior and not in the NBA is because he can be exploited on the defensive end.
Figuring out how to do that with college kids is the trick.
Tony Bennett, in the game last month, used high screens with Beekman and his fives to put pressure on Post on defense.
I’d expect Jordan Minor to get the start, but don’t be surprised to see Bennett go early to a small-ball lineup with Groves at the five spot to force Post out of drop coverage on the high screens, which should free Beekman up for dribble-drives.
Bennett went with Groves in his starting lineup for the first game, moving Ryan Dunn to the backcourt.
I’m thinking we’ll see Dunn and Groves start the game in the post tomorrow night, with Taine Murray as the second off-guard, but as the game wears on, the lineup that gets the most minutes will probably be Dunn and Groves in the post, and Murray, Beekman and McKneely in the backcourt.
The key will be getting defense out of that unit, focusing on Post and BC’s athletic four, 6’7”, 230-pound Devin McGlockton.
It should help that Thursday’s game will be the third in three days for Boston College.
Legs will be an obvious issue for the Eagles.
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Chris Graham
