A strong start has quickly turned into an agonizing slump for Steve Donahue and the Boston College men's basketball team. After jumping out to an impressive 13-4 start, the Eagles have lost four of their last five games and have dropped their last three contests.
Boston College looks to right the ship when it hosts Malcolm Delaney and ACC foe Virginia Tech at Conte Forum on Saturday at 1 p.m. EST (WEEI).
The Eagles hold an 11-7 advantage in the all-time series against Virginia Tech. The series dates back to 1981, and Boston College lost the first ever meeting between the two schools, 75-70, on December 29th. BC won the last meeting at Conte Forum, 80-60, on February 24, 2010. However, Virginia Tech topped the Eagles, 63-62, in their first match-up of the 2010 season on January 23rd. BC is 8-1 at Conte Forum when playing Virginia Tech.
BC is 5-5 against Virginia Tech since joining the ACC in 2005. The Eagles bested the Hokies in their first three meetings as conference opponents in 2006 and 2007, but Virginia Tech rolled off four straight wins from 2007 to 2009. The Eagles ended the losing streak with a 67-66 win at Conte Forum on January 31, 2009.
Coming off an embarrassing 106-74 loss to No. 23 North Carolina, Boston College (14-8, 4-4 ACC) is in desperate need of a win if it hopes to grab an NCAA tournament bid. Not only have the Eagles dropped four of their last five games, but each loss came against an ACC opponent. BC started conference play with a 4-1 record but have since lost to conference rivals Florida State, Duke and UNC.
Reggie Jackson continues to lead the Eagles in scoring (18 PPG), assists (4.9 APG) and steals (1.1), but has struggled as of late. In the Eagles' loss against Florida State, Jackson finished with 13 points and seven assists. Against Duke, Jackson had only seven points and six assists after being benched for the start of the first and second halves. In the UNC loss, Jackson finished with a season-low six points and three assists.
Joe Trapani is second in scoring, averaging 14.6 points, and leads the Eagles in rebounding with 7.4 boards per contest. Corey Raji is third in scoring (12.7 PPG) and is second in rebounding (6.5 RPG). Biko paris is the Eagles' only other double-digit scorers, averaging 10.9 points.
Virginia Tech (15-6, 5-3 ACC) is fresh off of a 77-69 win over ACC rival N.C. State on Wednesday. Delaney scored 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting to pace the Hokies, who shot 40.9% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc.
The Hokies opened the season by losing four of their first eight games. They found their stride, though, winning six games in a row and eleven of their last 13 contests. Virginia Tech has won its last two against Miami (72-68) and N.C. State.
Delaney is the Hokies' leading scorer, averaging 18.3 points, and also averages a team-best 4.5 assists. He is shooting 43.5% from the field this season and 41.3% from long distance. Jeff Allen is second in scoring with 12.6 points and also averages a team-high 9.6 rebounds. Erick Green averages 10.9 points and Dorenzo Hudson averages 1.4 points.
The Eagles head back on the road to face Clemson in their next game on February 8th while the Hokies return home to face Georgia Tech next Sunday.