CHESTNUT HILL - Tonight's game featuring Boston College and Providence may not seem like a marquee match up to most college basketball fans, but the game should be a lot more interesting than many think.
Boston College (6-2) enters the game riding a three game winning streak and has won four of its last five games. As for Providence (9-1), the Friars are also riding a winning streak of their own, defeating their last five opponents.
There are several story lines for this game, with the first being that Eagles senior forward Cortney Dunn has been suspended three games by head coach Steve Donahue as a result of violating team rules.
Dunn, the Eagles' starting center, has averaged two points and 2.3 rebounds in eight games this season. He will miss tonight's game against the Friars, as well as Boston College's first ACC game against Maryland on December 12th and the home game against Bryant on December 19th.
The next game Dunn will be eligible to play in is on December 22nd when the Eagles host Bucknell at Conte Forum.
Senior center Josh Southern is expected to start in place of Dunn. Southern, who has played limited minutes ever since returning from minor intestinal surgery in the offseason, will be getting his first start of the 2010 campaign.
Southern has looked better with every game he has played this season and had a career night against UMass in the Boston Tip-Off Classic at TD Garden on Saturday, scoring a career-high 16 points and collecting seven rebounds.
Last season, Southern served as the Eagles' starting center for the majority of the year, and is expected to be a major contributor for Boston College going forward.
Another storyline to keep an eye on is Boston College senior forward Joe Trapani's pursuit of his 1,000th career point. Entering Wednesday night's game against Providence, Trapani has 985 career points, leaving him 15 points shy of the milestone. He would be the 38th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.
Teammate Corey Raji reached 1,000 career points earlier this season, doing so in the Eagles' win over Holy Cross. Raji was injured in the Eagles' win against Indiana in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and will not play in his third second straight game.
While it is entirely possible that Trapani could reach the 1,000 points plateau tonight, it's not a shoe in, as Trapani is only averaging 13 points per game. Check back throughout the night for an update on his pursuit of history.