There may not be a hotter New England sports team right now than the Boston College men's basketball team. The Eagles have won six games in a row and are 10-2 through their first 12 games.
Boston College puts its lengthy winning streak on the line on Wednesday night when it faces the University of Rhode Island at the Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I., at 7 p.m. EST (WRKO).
The first meeting between the two teams was in the 1910-11 season, and Boston College leads the all-time series against Rhode Island 37-11. The last meeting came last season when the Eagles topped the Running Rams 80-69 on Dec. 13.
The Eagles' latest win, an 84-80 victory against Bucknell, saw them come back from a 16-point first half deficit. BC has defeated California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Providence, Maryland, Bryant and Bucknell during its winning steak.
Reggie Jackson continues to pace the Eagles on offense and defense. Through 12 games, Jackson leads the team in scoring (19.2 PPG), assists (5 APG) and steals (1.3 SPG). Jackson is shooting 54% from the field, 50.9% from three-point range and 80.4% from the charity stride.
Joe Trapani is the Eagles' second leading scorer, averaging 12.9 points, and also leads the team in rebounding with 75 boards (6.3 per game). However, Trapani has struggled shooting the ball this season, making 36.3% of his field goals and only 28.8% of his three pointers.
Corey Raji is fourth in scoring (11.1 PPG) and second in rebounding 62 rebounds; 6.2 boards per game). He is shooting 52.7% from the field and 29.6% from beyond the arc.
Among the Eagles pleasant surprises this season are point guard Biko Paris (11.7 PPG, 41 assists) and center Josh Southern (9.2 PPG, 43 rebounds). Paris is shooting an impressive 47.6% from the floor and 43.9% from long range. Southern, who missed the Eagles' first game while recuperating from offseason intestinal surgery, has gotten better with every start and is shooting 69.2% from the field (36-for-52).
Danny Rubin, a freshman who took Raji's place in the starting lineup after two games, is averaging 7.4 points on 46.6% shooting. Dallas Elmore averages 3.3 points, Cortney Dunn averages two points and freshman Gabe Moton is averaging 1.8 points this season for Boston College.
Rhode Island (8-4) has been unable to establish itself through its first 12 games. The Running Rams lost their season opener against No. 5 Pittsburgh 83-75 and proceeded to defeat their next three opponents, Brown (92-67), Charleston (75-66) and Toledo (76-65).
The UIC Flame handed the Running Rams their second loss of the season, 74-68, on November 21st. Rhode Island proceeded to win its next two against Drexel (74-68) and Davidson (71-58) before losing to in-state rival Providence (87-74) on December 4th.
After defeating Northeastern 79-67 in Boston, the Running Rams lost to Quinnipiac 73-66. Rhode Island has won its last two games, topping New Hampshire (64-52) on Dec. 18 and Lafayette (73-65) last Wednesday.
Delroy James leads Rhode Island in scoring, averaging 20 points per contest. James also leads the team in rebounding with 7.4 boards per game and steals with 1.6 thefts per game. He is shooting 45.5% from the field and 35.2% from three-point range. In addition, James is shooting 72.9% from the free-throw line.
Marquis Jones is the Running Rams' second leading scorer, averaging 10.9 points, and is one of four Rhode Island players averaging double-digit scoring. The other two players are Nikola Malesevic (10.5 PPG) and Akeem Richmond (10.2 PPG).
Following Wednesday night's game in Kingston, Boston College travels south to face the South Carolina Gamecocks on New Year's Day at 5:30 p.m. EST (ESPNU).