MEN’S HOOPS — Notre Dame At Boston College Game Preview
NOTRE DAME (17-10, 8-8 ACC) at BOSTON COLLEGE (13-15, 7-10)
Where: Conte Forum (8,606), Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Time/TV/Internet: Today (9 p.m., EST); Available on ACC Network, UND.com, Sirius/XM Radio Channel 989
Line: Notre Dame -4.5 (141 over/under)
Prediction: Notre Dame 70, BC 68
Game Notes Links: Boston College … Notre Dame
ACC Standings: Link is here
Series Facts: After two straight home wins, Notre Dame takes to the road to play Boston College in a series the Irish had dominated for the last 20 years, until about 10 weeks ago.
In this all-Catholic “rivalry,” Notre Dame had won 17 of 18 games since 1999, including 13 in a row, until BC came to Purcell Pavilion last December and handed the Irish an unthinkable 73-72 home loss. This remains the harshest defeat Notre Dame has suffered this season.
Overall, Notre Dame is 21-11 in the series.
The Irish have won six straight at Conte Forum and have never lost there in ACC play.
NOTRE DAME OVERVIEW
With two straight wins in the books, and likely at least four more needed to finish this regular season, the Irish’s late-season push for an NCAA Tournament bid continues tonight with some added motivation.
In an early December game against BC that Notre Dame was favored to win by 13 points, the Eagles pulled the upset and dropped the Irish to 0-2 in the ACC, sending ND into a season-long uphill battle for any postseason consideration.
The Irish have rallied with six wins in its previous eight games and have a chance to secure a third straight victory tonight in the next leg of their “must win” tour.
The only regular-season game remaining of the last four that might be excusable for the Irish to lose, perhaps, would be March 4 at home against Florida State.
Then again, don’t underestimate the postseason profile boost that beating the No. 6 Seminoles would give to Notre Dame.
If the Irish can win these last four regular-season games, it would finish 12-8 in the ACC, a résumé that deserves serious tournament consideration.
It would also mean 10 wins for Notre Dame in its final 12 games and also mark only second time in program history it has won six straight ACC games.
Here is where the Irish stand in terms of BPI and the all-important NCAA Net rankings.
Here is also the schedule of what the Irish face the rest of the way.
BC OVERVIEW
• One of the major frustrations this season around the Boston College program is its scoring droughts brought by long stretches of three-point reliance. They rank 135th nationally in attempted threes, but 326th with only 30 percent made.
• Not necessarily through his point production, Eagles 6-foot-8, all-purpose junior forward Steffon Mitchell has been the team’s glue this season, on both sides of the court.
Mitchell leads BC in rebounding (8.3), steals (2.3) and blocks (1.0), and he ranks second on the team in assists (2.8), making him the lone player in the country, and only the fourth D1 player since 1996, to enjoy that kind of production in those four categories in a season.
Through BC’s 28 games, Mitchell has posted five double-doubles and has led his team in rebounding 21 times, steals 16 times, blocks 14 times and assists on 10 occasions.
GAME OUTLOOK
• Statistically speaking, Notre Dame holds every advantage in this game, especially when it comes to scoring and shooting.
Boston College ranks last in the 15-team ACC in field goal percentage (40.6) and 14th in field goal percentage defense (44.0).
• Much has changed since Notre Dame and Boston College played the first time, mainly the Irish have found their scoring offense.
At the time of the December defeat, Notre Dame had tallied fewer than 75 points in five of six games and ranked near the bottom of the ACC in scoring offense.
Since then, the Irish have moved into a tie for third place in league scoring at 75.0 points per game.
• Wins over Notre Dame, Virginia and NC State headline this ACC season for Boston College.
A 19-point home loss to Georgia Tech and a 27-point road loss to Miami would be the low points.
QUICK HITS
• Boston College and Georgia Tech are Notre Dame’s two “permanent” — or annual — home-and-home ACC opponents. The Irish are 21-6 in these games since joining the conference in 2013-14, the best mark during that stretch for any ACC team against its repeat foes.
• A win tonight would lift BC to 8-10 in ACC play, its best record through 18 league games since the 2010-11 season (9-9).
• A win tonight would bring Notre Dame to 9-8 in conference play, which would be the first time since January 2018 — with Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell — that the Irish were above .500 in ACC play.
QUOTABLE: “General rule of thumb, whether a league is up, or it’s down, or it’s this or it’s that, if you have a winning record in a Power Five league, you’re going to be on the [selection] board somewhere.” — Irish head coach Mike Brey on this late push for an NCAA Tournament bid