Ryan Anderson and the No. 12 seeded Boston College Eagles will look to make some noise when they face the No. 5 seeded N.C. State Wolfpack in the opening round of the 2012 ACC Tournament at 2 p.m. EDT in Atlanta on Thursday.
N.C. State took both regular season meetings against Boston College this year, but the Eagles lead the all-time series against the Wolfpack, 8-5. Since joining the ACC, BC is just 5-5 against N.C. State. In the first meeting of the year, the Wolfpack posted a 76-62 home win on Jan. 19 before beating the Eagles, 56-51, at Conte Forum on Feb. 1.
Boston College finished the regular season with a 9-21 overall record and a 4-12 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which pegged them 12th (dead last) in the conference. Nevertheless, it was a successful season for the young Eagles, who featured nine first-year players and played very well in spurts at different points of the year.
The Eagles started conference play very well, winning their first two ACC games against the Clemson Tigers and Virginia Tech Hokies. Alas, they couldn't sustain the success and would lose six in a row and 11 of their final 13 games to close out the season. BC's best game came against then No. 15/17 Florida State in a 64-60 upset win.
Ryan Anderson, a freshman forward from California, emerged as the Eagles' most consistent player over the season and finished the year as the team's leading scorer (10.8 PPG) and rebounder (7.2 RPG). Matt Humphrey, a junior transfer from the University of Oregon, was BC's second leading scorer, averaging 10.5 points this season.
North Carolina State, meanwhile, closed out the season with two straight wins after losing four in a row. The Wolfpack posted a 20-11 record in the regular season and were 9-7 in the conference, good enough for fifth place in the ACC. C.J. Leslie led the charge for the Wolfpack this year, averaging a team-best 14.3 points and was the team's second best rebounder, averaging 7.1 boards per contest.
The winner of Thursday's game will face No. 4 Virginia in the quarterfinal round.
For more on the 2012 ACC Tournament, stay tuned to our StoryStream or visit The ACC.com. For more on Boston College basketball, visit our blog BC Interruption.