Louisville @ Boston College preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 16, 2019 ) Boston College 70, Louisville 80

Louisville has stumbled after a sizzling start in conference play, partly due to a killer schedule during the month of February and partly due to an alarming inability to protect sizable leads. The 24th-ranked Cardinals have dropped two games in a row and four of their last five entering Wednesday night's ACC road matchup against Boston College.

Louisville has squandered double-digit leads in three of its last five defeats, including a 23-point cushion in a home loss to Duke. "We understand that this league is a monster league. That's what our guys signed up for," Cardinals coach Chris Mack said after Saturday's 64-52 loss versus Virginia in which his club coughed up a 12-point lead. "We've got to be able to lick our wounds." Boston College has dropped six of its last eight games, following consecutive home wins with back-to-back road losses at North Carolina State and Clemson. The Eagles suffered an 80-70 setback at Louisville on Jan. 16 to extend their losing streak to six games in the series.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS South (Louisville), NESN (Boston)

ABOUT LOUISVILLE (18-10, 9-6 ACC): The inability to score inside continues to haunt the Cardinals as big men Steven Enoch and Malik Williams scored just three points apiece and shot a combined 2-for-16 in the loss to Virginia. "We've got to be able to score one-on-one in the post," Mack said. "They've got to make a few down there so they force at least some type of crowd around the post, and then, we can play a little bit more inside out." Jordan Nwora, the team leader in scoring (17.3 points) and rebounding (7.5), has shot 12-for-42 over the past three games but lit up BC for 32 points last month.

ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE (13-13, 4-10): It's unclear if the Eagles will be at full strength as guard Jordan Chatman, who scored 21 points in last month's matchup, sat out Saturday against Clemson after aggravating a finger injury in the previous game. Leading scorer Ky Bowman (19.2 ppg), the only player in the ACC to rank in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and assists, has been struggling badly with his shot over the last four games, connecting on only 19 of 65 shots (29.2 percent). Freshman Jairus Hamilton is averaging 11.0 points over the last four games and scored a season-high 17 Saturday.

TIP-INS

1. Cardinals F Dwayne Sutton is just 5-for-27 shooting in the last three games but had a double-double in the first matchup.

2. Bowman had 14 points and 13 rebounds against Louisville last month but has shot 11-for-39 in the last two meetings.

3. Louisville dominated the Eagles on the boards last month with a 41-30 edge.

PREDICTION: Louisville 77, Boston College 74