Where: Conte Forum – Chestnut Hill, MA
When: 7:00PM
How: ESPN3 (Eric Frede & Malcom Huckaby)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV
Game Notes
- Providence and Boston College have met 108 times all time making this rivalry the 3rd most played game in Providence history behind Rhode Island (124) and Brown (120). 56 of the 108 came as Big East conference games prior to the Eagles moving to the ACC in 2005. Providence holds the edge in the all time series at 59-49. The first meeting came in 1942 with Providence winning 64-37. The last time the two teams played in Chestnut Hill came on December 22, 2012 with Boston College winning 71-68. The Friars beat the Eagles last season in the season opener at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center by the score of 82-78.
- Boston College welcomes the Friars to Conte Forum following a home win Monday night against Marist, 79-61, to move to 3-3 on the season. The Eagles were picked 14th out of 15 teams in the ACC by the league’s coaches in the preseason poll. The leading scorer for Boston College is junior guard Olivier Hanlan at 16.2 ppg and the leading rebounder is junior center Dennis Clifford who is pulling down 5.5 rpg.
- Providence is 131-190 against the ACC all time with 122 of the wins coming against teams while they were members of the Big East conference. The Friars are 8-12 against all other ACC teams except Georgia Tech who is the only school in the conference Providence has never played.
- Providence fell from the USA Today Coaches Poll Monday but is still receiving votes. The Friars are also receiving votes in the AP Poll.
- The line opened with Providence as a 2.5 point favorite. The line quickly moved up to the Friars being favored by 4 points but as of this post at 4pm the line has moved back down to either 2.5 or 3 points depending where you look.
Game Preview
Coming off a tough road loss at Kentucky the Friars have had a few days to rest, heal and practice ahead of Friday night’s tilt at Conte Forum against the Eagles of Boston College. Kris Dunn practiced Monday but was given Tuesday off, according to Friar head coach Ed Cooley. Dunn was clearly not himself physically Sunday against Kentucky coughing up 10 turnovers and shooting 1/7 from the field. LaDontae Henton will look to bounce back after being suffocated by 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein Sunday. Henton has scored 20 or more points in ever Providence game this season except the last one at Rupp Arena and the 2nd game of the season against Binghamton.
Boston College is coming off a home win Wednesday night against Marist but the Eagles have not been very efficient shooting the ball in their 6 games this season. Coming into Friday’s game with a 3-3 record, Boston College is looking to keep their home winning streak alive against the Friars as Providence hasn’t won at Conte Forum since Valentine’s Day 2004. Olivier Hanlan is the leading scorer for the Eagles but he is only 6/31 from beyond the arc and his eFG% is 47.6 which is below his career average coming into the season of 52.7%. Graduate transfer Aaron Brown is the secondary scorer for Boston College but he also hasn’t shot the ball particularly well with an eFG% of just 43.1%. He has 0/5 and 0/7 3 point shooting games on his resume through the first 6 contests.
The key for Providence will be to not allow Hanlan to get into a rhythm on offense as he has the capability of carrying the Eagles on the offensive end. If Providence is even close to their defensive effort against the #1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats I expect this game to go Providence’s way. I expect Henton to have a good night on the offensive end and I think we may see a few more minutes for 7’2 freshman Paschal Chukwu after acquitting himself well against the elite big men of Kentucky on Sunday.
Prediction: Providence 70 Boston College 63
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