Coral Gables, FL – The No. 8 Miami Hurricanes look to stay perfect both at home and in Atlantic Coast Conference play as they welcome the Boston College Eagles to the BankUnited Center on Tuesday.
Boston College comes in with a 24-16 all-time lead over the Hurricanes in a series that dates back to the 1962-63 campaign. However, Miami has won the last five matchups overall, including a 60-59 decision on Jan. 16 in Chestnut Hill earlier this season. Boston College's Olivier Hanlan was fouled in the closing seconds of the first matchup with the Eagles trailing by three. However, Miami escaped with the win after Hanlan's final free throw try rimmed out.
The Eagles ended a five-game losing streak on Saturday with a 75-68 victory over the Clemson Tigers. The victory put Boston College just one game below the .500 mark overall and into a three-way tie with Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech for last place in the ACC standings.
Freshman guard Joe Rahon submitted his best game as a collegiate athlete in the Eagles' win over Clemson, draining 6-of-7 from beyond the arc on his way to a career-high 26 points. Boston College never trailed in the contest, as it limited Clemson to a dismal 6-of-26 showing from the floor (.231) in the first half to take an 11-point edge into the break. Lonnie Jackson added 14 points and Ryan Anderson finished with 12 to help the Eagles down the Tigers. Anderson is pacing the team with 16.2 points and 8.7 boards per tilt, while Hanlan (13.7 ppg), Rahon (10.8 ppg), and Jackson (10.2 ppg) all own double- digit scoring averages as well. Coach Steve Donahue recently slipped sophomore forward Eddie Odio into the starting five. The Miami native has blocked six shots and gone 6-of-13 from the field over his last two outings.
Miami is coming off its thrilling, 79-78 road victory over NC State. The victory kept Jim Larranaga's squad as the only unbeaten left in ACC play at 8-0 and helped it climb to No. 8 in the polls. The Hurricanes' hot start has helped them become the first ACC school not named Duke or North Carolina to start 8-0 in conference play since Virginia in 1981, when Coach Jim Larranaga was an assistant with the Cavaliers. The team has won nine consecutive games overall coming into this contest and moved to a 17-3 overall mark with its hard-fought win over the Wolfpack.
The Hurricanes lead the ACC in scoring margin in league games at +11.4 ppg. Durand Scott transforms the Hurricanes into a much more explosive squad on the offensive end with his 14.0 points per game. The 6-foot-3 Scott showed his value as he poured in a 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the win over NC State. Miami has a very valuable piece up front in Kenny Kadji, who has used strong interior play to post 13.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game, while Shane Larkin chips in 13.0 points and 4.1 assists per game from the point guard slot. Reggie Johnson is near a double-double average (10.4 ppg, 9.1 rpg) while Trey McKinney Jones nets just under 10 ppg.
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