Boston College 11-8 (2-6) at Notre Dame (2-6) 12pm ESPNU
Boston College travels to South Bend to take on Notre Dame Saturday afternoon. Both teams want to end their losing skids and secure their 3rd ACC win of the year.
The Eagles come to town after a close loss at Virginia Tech Tuesday night. Devin McGlockton scored 19 points and the team shot 50% from the floor. A big factor in the loss was Virginia Tech went 16-16 from the foul line. Boston College has to do a better job defending without fouling to give themselves a chance on the road.
During their 3 game-losing streak, Notre Dame has only scored 59.3 points per game. Burton led the team with 15 points, but someone else will have to step up and help carry the load. Burton is the only player to average 10+ points on the season for the Irish. In the end, I think Boston College just has a little more consistent scoring to edge out the win.
Virginia 14-5 (5-3) at Louisville 6-13 (1-7) 12pm CW
Virginia comes into the contest having won 3 in a row while Louisville is on a 4 game losing streak. The Cavaliers most recently won a tough matchup at home in overtime against NC State 59-53. The Cards lost at home to Duke 83-69 Tuesday night.
In a very Virginia fashion, they have been holding opponents to 58.9 points per game over the winning streak. They did not shoot the ball necessarily the best against NC State, but a big key for them was the distribution of the scoring on offense. 5 players were in double figures, with Ryan Dunn leading the way with 13 points.
Over the 4 losses, Louisville has been giving up an average of 89.5 points per game. Even though Virginia doesn’t have the largest scoring output, they will need to clamp down on defense (especially 2nd chance points) to give themselves a chance. Louisville is searching for answers right now, and hard to say some will come against a Virginia team that is starting to figure itself out.
#3 North Carolina 16-3 (8-0) at Florida State 12-7 (6-2) 2pm ESPN
North Carolina is the hottest team in the ACC right now and is riding a 9 game-winning streak. Florida State has had a strong start to conference play with a 6-2 record.
The player to watch in this game is RJ Davis for North Carolina. The senior guard is averaging 22.2 points per game over his last 5, including a season-high 36 points Monday night against Wake Forest. Florida State will have to try and use their length to make him uncomfortable and take tough shots.
Jamir Watkins is the guy to watch for Florida State. The junior leads the team in points, rebounds, and assists per game. The Seminoles play a lot of players, but Watkins will also be key because he will have to defend star Armando Bacot for UNC. In the end, this will be a close matchup but I have North Carolina pulling it out to stay undefeated in the ACC.
Pitt 12-7 (3-5) at Miami 13-6 (4-4) 2:15pm CW
After starting 2-5 in the ACC, Pitt has won their last two ballgames both of which have been on the road. Miami got a needed win at Notre Dame Wednesday 73-61 to pull back to .500 in league play.
Last time out at Georgia Tech, the Panthers got 24 bench points between Guillermo Diaz Graham and Ishmael Leggett. They will need strong bench play again as Miami likes to play fast and get out in transition. I would expect Jeff Capel to use his bench a little more to keep his starters fresh for the 2nd Half push.
Norchad Omier is the player to watch in this game for me. He had 33 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 assist, and went 2-3 from 3. If he gets established inside close to that, it could be a long day for the Panthers. I would also expect Miami to push the ball more to try and take advantage of this being Pitt’s 3rd away game in a row. I think the legs just get a little tired in this one from Pitt and Miami pulls away in the 2nd Half.
Clemson 13-5 (3-4) at #12 Duke 14-4 (5-2) 4pm ESPN
In one of the top matchups of the Saturday league slate, the Tigers travel to Durham to take on the Blue Devils. Clemson comes in having won 2 of their last 3 and Duke has won 4 of their last 5. With a win, Clemson pulls back to .500 in league play and Duke could move up into 2nd place in the ACC.
The matchup in this game for me is PJ Hall (Clemson) vs. Kyle Filipowski (Duke). Both players are contenders for the ACC Player of the Year and both teams need a big game from them. Filipowski is averaging 23 points per game over his last 4 outings. Hall only had 13 points in the win at Florida State following up his 31 performance in the 2OT loss against Georgia Tech.
Clemson has not been shooting as well as earlier this season. Duke plays well at home, despite losing most recently against Pitt at home on January 20th. It is also really hard to ignore the fact that Duke is 62-4 at Cameron Indoor against Clemson. Historical stats are not everything, but a stat like that has to be a little something. Clemson has to keep it close early before letting Duke build too much momentum. For me, think Clemson is playing a little better but Duke is too much at home.
Georgia Tech 9-10 (2-6) at Virginia Tech 12-7 (4-4) 5pm ACCN
We have a battle of the “Tech’s” as the Yellow Jackets try to end their losing skid against a Hokie team that has won 2 in a row.
It seemed at first like Georiga Tech may have found a way to close out games after winning at Clemson, but they have lost 2 in a row which were also at home. They will need Miles Kelly to have a good game and be efficient with his scoring as well. Kelly leads the team in 14.3 in ppg but is only shooting 35.1% from the floor.
A player to watch for Virginia Tech is Lynn Kidd. Pedulla and Cattoor get a lot of deserved notoriety for their shot-making, but the Hokies need Kidd to continue building on his recent games to keep their winning ways going. Kidd has increased his scoring from 5 ppg last year to 13.8 ppg this year. I see Kidd having a good game and the Hokies able to keep their winning streak going on Saturday.
NC State 13-6 (5-3) at Syracuse 13-6 (4-4) 7pm ACCN
In the night game of the ACC slate, we have two teams trying to get back into the win column. NC State lost an overtime game at Virginia and Syracuse lost at home to Florida State 85-69.
Judah Mintz had a big game last time out, going for 28 points and recording 3 assists. He leads the team with 18.4 ppg. Mintz also plays well have home, scoring 20.3 ppg and shooting 41.9% from 3. He for sure will be the #1 player on the defensive scouting report for NC State.
A player to watch for NC State is DJ Burns. The senior forward is 2nd on the team with 12.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. Burns is an excellent passer out of the post and he does a good job getting others involved in the offense. This one will go down to the final minutes, but I have NC State pulling out a close win on the road.
Go Hokies!