Boston College took a severe hit to its NCAA tournament chances following its 73-64 loss against Miami on Wednesday. In order for the Eagles to maintain a sliver of hope, they will have to take care of business against the Virginia Cavaliers in their match-up at noon on Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena (TV/Radio: RSN/WEEI).
The task shouldn't be an arduous one for Boston College (16-11, 6-7 ACC), as the Eagles have bested the Cavaliers (14-13, 5-8 ACC) four times in their last five meetings. BC took the first meeting of the season back on January 19th, winning 70-67 at Conte Forum. The Eagles are 5-7 in the all-time series with Virginia.
Eagles junior guard Reggie Jackson became the 39th player to score 1,000 career points in school history and finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the win for BC, which shot 40.7% from the field.
Jackson is the Eagles' leading scorer (18.2 PPG) and also leads the team in assists (4.4 APG) and steals (1.1 SPG). In addition, Jackson is shooting 48.9% from the field this season and is averaging 4.3 rebounds per contest.
Joe Trapani, who had a team-high 18 points and six rebounds in the Eagles' win over Virginia in January, is second in scoring (14.7 PPG) and leads the Eagles in rebounding (7.6 PRG). Corey Raji is third in scoring (12 PPG) and second in rebounding (6.4 RPG) and Biko Paris is averaging an even 10 points per game for Boston College.
BC ranks 98th in the nation in scoring (71.9 PPG) and 98th in team field goal percentage (45.4%). The Eagles are 48th in the country in assists (15 APG) but are a dismal 303rd in team rebounding (32 RPG).
Virginia has put together back-to-back wins against Virginia Tech (61-54) on February 19th and Georgia Tech (62-56) on Wednesday. Mustapha Farrakhan is averaging 16.5 points in the Cavaliers' last two games and is the team's leading scorer (13.3 PPG).
Joe Harris is the only other Cavalier to average double-digit scoring, contributing 10.6 points per game. K.T. Harrell averages 8.6 points per game and Assane Sene leads the team in rebounding with 5.5 boards per contest.
The Cavaliers rank 309th in the country in scoring (61.8 PPG) and are 273rd in team field goal percentage (41.8%). In addition, Virginia ranks 317th in rebounding (31.2 RPG) and 279th in assists (11.6 APG).
Following Saturday's tilt, Boston College faces Virginia Tech in another ACC contest on March 1st. Virginia remains at home to face N.C. State in its next game, which is also on March 1st. BC closes out the regular season on Sunday, March 6th with a home game against conference opponent Wake Forest.