Central Conn. St. @ Boston College preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 19, 2015 ) Central Conn. St. 57, Boston College 82

Boston College will try to match its longest winning streak in nearly five years when it hosts Central Connecticut on Sunday. The Eagles have won three straight - including the recent stunning upset of then-No. 1 Duke - and have claimed four in a row just a handful of times since a five-gamer in December of 2012.

Junior guard Jerome Robinson scored 21 points and Boston College shook off a sluggish start in Tuesday's 81-66 win over Columbia. "I think Jerome set a great tone for us today," Eagles coach Jim Christian told reporters. "To me, I'm always judging the process of how we try to get better. Today - in a good way - our guys were calling each other out. The guys that didn't look mentally into the game, they were able to get on them and get them going. I think that helps and how teams grow." Sophomore guard Ky Bowman followed up his 30-point, 10-rebound, nine-assist performance against Duke with 13 points and a career-high 12 boards. Central Connecticut has lost two straight since a five-game winning streak, falling 61-55 at Northern Illinois in their most recent outing Dec. 9.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, ACC Network Extra

ABOUT CENTRAL CONNECTICUT (5-5): Junior guard Tyler Kohl leads the Blue Devils in scoring (14.0), rebounding (8.0) and assists (4.2) after producing 20, nine and two in the loss to Northern Illinois. Junior center Deion Bute added 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and he entered Friday leading all Northeast Conference players in field-goal percentage (63.2). Junior guard Austin Nehls is the team's top perimeter threat and its second-best scorer (12.2), but he has been held to six points in back-to-back games while making 3-of-12 from 3-point range.

ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE (8-3): Bowman's dominance on the boards is a welcome sight for a team that lost leading rebounder Deontae Hawkins for the season prior to the three-game winning streak, and the 6-1 Bowman had two of the team's three blocked shots against Columbia. Junior Jordan Chatman is averaging 18.7 points while making 10-of-21 from 3-point range over his last three games. Sunday marks one of just two games in a 17-day span for the Eagles before they return to ACC play Dec. 30 at Virginia.

TIP-INS

1. Eagles F Nik Popovich is averaging 11.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in the three games since Hawkins went down.

2. Kohl is 4-for-18 from 3-point range over his last four games.

3. Boston College has won the first four meetings and Robinson had 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting in an 82-57 rout of the Blue Devils two seasons ago.

PREDICTION: Boston College 83, Central Connecticut 71