Durham, NC – The Boston College Eagles look to pull off another upset as the visit Cameron Indoor Stadium to square off with the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils in Atlantic Coast Conference action.
The Eagles are coming off a 69-58 victory over Maryland that marked their second win in three outings. Despite more than a couple gutsy performances by Steve Donahue's squad this season, Boston College is still tied for second to last place in the ACC standings with Georgia Tech at 4-9 coming into Sunday. The Eagles have been very good at home this campaign, but they are just 2-6 in true road tests.
Duke bounced back from a road loss to Maryland on Thursday with an 88-56 rout of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. The victory over the Hokies lifted the Blue Devils to a 23-3 overall record, which includes their second place 10-3 standing in ACC action. Coach Mike Krzyzewski's team has outscored opponents 81.0 to 61.1 at Cameron Indoor Stadium this season on the way to a perfect 13-0 home record. Duke has defeated 11 opponents by double figures at home this season.
This will be the 18th meeting in history and second encounter of the season between these schools. Duke barely survived its Feb. 10 visit to Chestnut Hill with a 62-61 decision as Olivier Hanlan's jumper in the closing seconds was off the mark. The Blue Devils are 15-2 all-time versus BC.
Hanlan scored a team-high 26 points and pulled down seven rebounds for BC in its upset of Maryland on Tuesday. Also scoring in double figures for the Eagles was Lonnie Jackson who tallied 13 points off the bench, while Eddie Odio filled the box score with eight points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots. In ACC games, the Eagles have the sixth best scoring offense in the league at 65.8 ppg and place eighth in scoring defense with an allowed average of 68.5 ppg. Ryan Anderson (15.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and Hanlan (14.5 ppg, 1.3 spg) are BC's top-two leading scorers, respectively, while freshman point guard Joe Rahon tallies 10.0 points and 3.6 assists per outing.
Duke's inside-outside combo of Mason Plumlee and Seth Curry has fueled its stellar season. Plumlee is posting 17.5 points and 10.5 boards per game in his first season as the featured player in Coach K's system, while Curry is netting 17.1 ppg with 43.5 percent efficiency from 3-point range.
Both players were very effective against Virginia Tech. Plumlee recorded a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds which he accompanied with five assists and three blocks, while Curry pumped in 22 points. Rasheed Sulaimon added 17 points and five rebounds to help the Blue Devils completely dominate the Hokies. Duke shot an overwhelming 53.8 percent from the floor, including 12-of-17 from beyond the arc, while adding 16 additional points at the charity stripe in the contest. The stellar offensive outing is customary for the Blue Devils, who are leading the ACC with 78.5 ppg, outscoring the opposition by an average of 13.8 ppg.
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