Boston College @ Notre Dame preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 2, 2019 ) Notre Dame 79, Boston College 73

Notre Dame is coming off a lopsided loss and will be shorthanded when it hosts Boston College in an ACC matchup Saturday afternoon. The Fighting Irish lost their first ACC game at North Carolina, but had won six in a row outside of the conference before falling 72-51 at No. 4 Maryland on Wednesday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

They also lost sophomore guard Robby Carmody to an ACL injury during the game and, with this week's announced transfer of power forward Chris Doherty, are left with eight scholarship players and one walk-on heading into the weekend. The Eagles, who won their ACC opener earlier in the season against Wake Forest, should have more available bodies for this one but they are searching for answers amid a four-game losing streak - the last three of which came by an average of 16 points. They are shooting 36.3 percent during the slide and made a season-low four free throws in nine attempts in Tuesday's 82-64 loss to Northwestern at home, and head coach Jim Christian is hopeful that a return to league play can provide a spark. "I hope so. I hope you're right," Christian told a reporter at the suggestion of a turnaround in ACC play. "It should. They know what they want to do. We just need a little leadership right now - on the court leadership."

TV: 2 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE (4-5, 1-0 ACC): The Eagles were outscored 28-6 to start the second half in a 20-point loss at Richmond last Saturday and suffered through a 16-0 Northwestern surge late in the first half Tuesday. "A little bit of the 'Here we go again type thing,'" Christian told reporters. "We've got to fight through that. You can't keep letting that happen. You can't keep digging holes. We just keep digging holes." Grad transfer Derryck Thornton leads the team in scoring (14.8), assists (4.1) and steals (1.8), but he's 7-for-22 from the floor over the last two games.

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (6-2, 0-1): The Irish shot a season-low 29 percent from the floor at Maryland, as senior guard T.J. Gibbs missed all 11 of his shots in a scoreless 30 minutes. "That was varsity versus the JV tonight," coach Mike Brey told reporters. "We were the JV. The varsity toyed with us tonight. Hopefully we can rebound because we have a league game on Saturday." Senior forward John Mooney finished the game with 17 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double and he leads the team in both categories at 14.7 and 12.9, respectively.

TIP-INS

1. Eagles sophomore F Jairus Hamilton recorded season highs of 12 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's loss, his third game back from a leg injury.

2. Irish sophomore G Prentiss Hubb averages 10.3 points and snapped a string of five straight single-digit efforts with 13 points at Maryland.

3. Notre Dame won each of the last 13 matchups, including a pair last season by a total of nine points.

PREDICTION: Notre Dame 75, Boston College 62