South Carolina State @ Boston College preview

Everything went as planned in the opener for Boston College, which will try to make it two straight out of the gate against visiting South Carolina State on Sunday. Backcourt stars Jerome Robinson and Ky Bowman scored 18 points apiece in the Eagles' 85-65 win over Maine on Friday, and the two standout guards were electric once they found their groove in the second half.

"There were no adjustments," coach Jim Christian said of the plan for the second half. "We had to just focus on the possession better. We had to attack the rim." Robinson and Bowman heeded that advice and combined to make 7-of-11 shots in Boston College's 50-point second half. The Bulldogs will be playing their second straight power conference opponent amid a challenging early-season slate. Senior guard Donte Wright was the lone South Carolina State player to score in double figures with 13 points in an 85-50 loss at Wisconsin on Friday.

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

ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA STATE (0-1): Damani Applewhite chipped in nine points and fellow sophomore Justin Jones hit two of the team's six 3-pointers and contributed eight off the bench against the Badgers. Wright was 5-for-16 from the floor and the Bulldogs shot 33.9 percent in the loss while getting outrebounded 41-22, numbers that had the MEAC team immediately looking to improve. "I have a quiet locker room, and that's a good sign for a program our size to have a quiet locker room after a loss to Wisconsin," coach Murray Garvin told reporters.

ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE (1-0): Robinson and Bowman will get the headlines all season long, but the Eagles are expecting big things from graduate transfer Deontae Hawkins, and he delivered in his team debut with 13 points and a career high-tying 15 rebounds. Sophomore Johncarlos Reyes had a breakout performance off the bench with a career-high 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and six rebounds in 21 minutes. Boston College ranked last among ACC teams with 14.6 turnovers per game last season but it gave the ball up just eight times in the opener.

TIP-INS

1. Reyes is a 59.6 percent shooter in 29 career games.

2. Hawkins has eight career double-doubles, five of which came last season with Illinois State.

3. This marks the first time the Eagles and Bulldogs will meet.

PREDICTION: Boston College 86, South Carolina State 64