Boston College, the No. 5 seed, did what it was supposed to on Thursday, trouncing No. 12 seed Wake Forest, 81-67, in the first round of the 2011 ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. on Thursday afternoon.
Next up for the Eagles is No. 4 seed Clemson in the quarterfinals on Friday at 2 p.m. EST (ACC Network/ESPN2). BC trails the all-time series, 4-9, against the Tigers. The Eagles lost to Clemson, 77-69, in their only match-up of the 2010-11 regular season. Reggie Jackson scored 27 points in the loss for BC, which was held to 38.3% shooting.
The Eagles (20-11) faired well in their opening round match-up with Wake Forest (8-24). Jackson scored 27 points and had six assists and five rebounds. Joe Trapani had 22 points and six rebounds and Biko Paris added 21 points.
BC shot 53.7% from the field and 40% from three-point range while holding Wake Forest to 43.5% shooting. The Demon Deacons were led by Travis McKie, who scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the loss.
Jackson was the Eagles' leading scorer in the regular season, averaging 18.3 points on 49.87% shooting. Trapani was second in scoring with 14.4 points per game and led the team in rebounding, grabbing 7.2 boards per contest. Corey Raji was third in scoring (12.7 PPG) and second in rebounding (6.6 RPG).
Boston College ranked 86th in the country in scoring (72.1 PPG) and 65th in team field goal percentage (46%). In addition, the Eagles are ranked 36th in the nation (15.2 APG) and 298th in rebounding (32.2 RPG).
Clemson (20-10) closed out the regular season with three wins in its last four games. The Tigers defeated Miami (63-59), Wake Forest (63-49) and Virginia Tech (69-60) while losing to Duke (70-59). Clemson was 9-7 in conference play, finishing the regular season tied with Boston College for fourth place in the ACC.
Demontez Stitt was the Tigers' leading scorer in the regular season, averaging 14.1 points per contest. Jerai Grant was second in scoring, averaging 12.4 points, and led the team in rebounding with 6.8 boards per game. Andre Young was third in scoring for Clemson, scoring 10.8 points per game, and also averaged three assists per tilt.
Devin Booker, the younger brother of former Clemson star and current Washington Wizards forward Trevor Booker, averaged eight points and 5.3 rebounds in the regular season.
Clemson ranked 212th in the nation in scoring (67.6 PPG) and 157th in field goal percentage (43.9%). In addition, the Tigers were ranked 174th in team assists (12.8 APG) and 184th in rebounding (34.8 RPG).
The winner of Friday's quarterfinal tilt will advance to the semifinals of the 2011 ACC Tournament on Saturday.