Louisville basketball: Cards look to make it seven straight against Boston College
By Jacob Lane
Louisville basketball will head back out on the road to take on Boston College as they look for their seventh straight win in conference play.
Coming off of a big blow-out win over Clemson, the no. 6 ranked Louisville basketball will hit the road again, this time traveling north to Boston to take on the Golden Eagles of Boston College.
We’ve been dying to see a Louisville team at some point this season that competes from start-to-finish and after a pretty lackluster effort against Georgia Tech where he wondered if we’d get that, the Cards turned it on and blitzed the Clemson Tigers.
That brings the winning streak up to six games and against Boston College on Wednesday night the Cards should have another opportunity to pick up a fairly substantial win. While BC is not a team on anyone’s radar in terms of being a threat in the ACC or even a tournament team, the Golden Eagles are coming off of a huge win against Virginia Tech that snapped a four-game losing streak.
Due to injuries and deflections from last season’s roster, BC hasn’t really been a team that has caused any sort of threat. While they do have a few big conference wins, including Notre Dame, Virginia, and now Virginia Tech, they are a team that Louisville should easily take care of.
Ranking as the 14th best scoring offense in the ACC, the Eagles have struggled to get any sort of consistent scoring outside of players named Derryck Thornton and Jay Heath. Lineup changes allowed for BC to play a different style of game against Virginia Tech and those could be something to watch as they look to continue building a resume for the NCAA Tournament.
This game has all the potential to be a trap game for the Cards, considering the Eagles have been one of the most mediocre teams in the conference and there’s a matchup looming on Saturday against North Carolina State.
While this should be a fairly easy win, there are a few factors that could make things interesting.
Gameday central
Who: Louisville at Boston College (10-10) (4-5)
When: Wednesday, January 29th at 9:00 EST
TV: ACC Network
Radio: 790 WKRD
Spread check: Louisville -12.5
Streaks: Louisville W6, Boston College W1
Last matchup: February 27, 2019: Louisville 66, Boston College 59
https://twitter.com/CoachChrisMack/status/1222534229868843008
Key storylines
Boston College
The ACC is wide open right now and all it takes to go from being on the NCAA Tournament bubble are a few big wins. Boston College has been the textbook definition of an average basketball team this season, yet with a 10-10 record, including 4-5 in the ACC, the Golden Eagles technically still have a chance to make a run.
Boston College is coming off of one of their biggest wins of the season, beating Virginia Tech 61-56, and will look to carry the momentum into Wednesday’s matchup. Louisville could be a swing game for the season. What I mean is if BC is able to get a win over the Cards it could change the trajectory of their season. However, if they lose, they’ll likely head into a tailspin with several games ahead against ranked teams.
Louisville
The Cards are coming off of one of their best all-around performances of the season in a blowout victory over Clemson, and they’ll be looking to continue that type of play against a very beatable BC team. What Louisville team shows up on Wednesday night?
Its games like the one Louisville has with Boston College that has been a problem this season. A Wednesday night 9:00 PM tip-off on the road against a Boston College team that probably won’t have many fans in attendance. It’s got all the ingredients necessary for a sleepy performance by the Cards and the potential to open themselves up to an upset much like what we saw last season during the 70-80 loss at Boston College.
However, if you’re a championship-caliber team it’s game like this that you have to show up for. Louisville showed on Saturday that they can and should dominate lesser teams from start to finish. If they bring that same effort and intensity against Boston College, there shouldn’t much worry about the Cards taking an L.