NC State basketball opponent scouting report: Boston College

NC State basketball is well rested and ready to return for the final two weeks of the regular season.

The Wolfpack has not played since a lopsided win at Georgia Tech Feb. 15. NC State will play its final two home games of the season this week.

The Wolfpack is 11-16 for the season and 4-12 in the ACC.

Here is a rundown of what to expect from Boston College.

Boston College Overview

Expectations were not high for new Boston College head coach Earl Grant in his first season in Chestnut Hill.

Grant arrived at Boston College after seven seasons at College of Charleston, a tenure highlighted by a three-year stretch from 2017-19 in which CofC went 75-27 overall and 40-14 in the Colonial Athletic Association. His rise in the CAA coincided with NC State coach Kevin Keatts winding down his brief three-year tenure at UNC Wilmington.

Under Keatts, Wilmington won the Colonial in 2016 and 2017. A year later, Grant led College of Charleston to the title.

Grant takes over for Jim Christian, who was fired after having just one winning season in seven years at BC and an overall record of 78-132 (.371 winning percentage) in his time there.

Thus, Grant had a lot of heavy lifting to do. Boston College comes to Raleigh with a 10-16 record overall and a 5-11 mark in the ACC. At one point, the Eagles had a 4-6 conference mark, but a five-game losing streak in February caused a slide in the standings. Boston College ended that skid with a lopsided home win over Florida State Monday.

Wednesday game at NC State will be the Eagles’ third game in five days.

Rankings

NET: Boston College is ranked No. 160 (out of 358 teams). NC State basketball is No. 132.

ESPN’s BPI: The Eagles check in at No. 134. The Wolfpack is No. 113.

KenPom.com: BC is No. 147. The Pack is No. 122.

Three Boston College Players To Watch Against NC State Basketball

Senior guard Makai Ashton-Langford: After two seasons at Providence, Ashton-Langford transferred to Boston College and had a nice first season in the Eagles uniform, averaging 9.6 points per game in 2020-21. Under Grant, Ashton-Langford has become BC’s top scorer, contributing 12.0 points. He has made 33 three pointers, more than doubling the 31 he had in his career prior to this season.

Ashton-Langford has also greatly improved at the line, making 79.7 percent of his attempt. He previously had been a career 59.5 percent shooter on free throws. Ashton-Langford also lead Boston College in assists per game at 3.2.

Sophomore guard DeMarr Langford: The younger brother of Makai and a former NC State recruiting target, Langford has also blossomed in his second year at BC and first under Grant. Langford, who missed the win over Florida State but is listed as probable against NC State, has improved his scoring average from 6.7 to 11.3 points per contest.

Freshman guard Jaeden Zackery: Although listed as a freshman, Zackery had a year at Chipola College where he was a third-team junior college All-American.

In his debut season for BC, Zackery has shown off an impressive stroke, shooting 45.7 percent on threes (37 of 81). He is averaging 9.9 points per contest and has scored 18 points in three of the past five games.

Three Things NC State Basketball Should Expect From Boston College

1. A team that would prefer to keep it low-scoring: Boston College is 13th out of 15 ACC teams in points per game (66.0), but it is also sixth in points allowed (67.7). Similar to its previous opponent Georgia Tech, the higher the score the better for NC State.

2. A good offensive rebounding team: Boston College ranks second in the conference in offensive boards per contest at 11.4

3. A potentially short-handed team: Junior forward T.J. Bickerstaff has not played since Feb. 12. The junior transfer from Drexel was averaging 7.3 points and a team-best 7.8 rebounds per game. He is not expected to play Wednesday evening.

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