Miami @ Boston College preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 24, 2018 ) Boston College 78, Miami-Florida 79

It might be too late to make much of an impact on this season, but Miami is starting to realize its potential as it visits Boston College on Sunday in an ACC game. The Hurricanes have won two of their last three games after dropping eight of nine to start the conference season with a buzzer-beating 65-64 victory over Clemson on Wednesday coming on the heels of an 88-85 overtime loss at No. 8 North Carolina on Feb. 9 - their sixth straight loss on the road.

“If we can take the No. 8 team to the wire, we can definitely take other teams in the conference,” junior guard Dejan Vasiljevic told reporters Wednesday after scoring a career-high 22 points. “That gave us energy and confidence.” The Eagles snapped a four-game slide with a 66-57 victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday behind 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals from junior guard Ky Bowman. “I’ve never been down on this basketball team,” BC coach Jim Christian told reporters. “We’ve done a lot of a good things during these games. I give these guys a lot of credit. They’ve weathered all of these storms.” Miami has won 13 of the last 14 meetings, including 79-78 last season when they rallied from a 14-point deficit to take a 25-24 lead in the series.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT MIAMI (11-13, 3-9 ACC): Sophomore guard Chris Lykes (team-high 17.1 points per game) is averaging 18.8 in his last five games since scoring a season-low one versus Florida State. Senior guard Zach Johnson (12.8 points) provided the heroics against Clemson with four-tenths of a second left for two of his six points - matching his lowest outing in a conference game - and senior guard Anthony Lawrence II (11.7 points, 5.9 rebounds) was held to seven after scoring 17 versus North Carolina. Vasiljevic (11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds) has averaged 16 points in his last three games while senior center Ebuka Izundu (10.7 points, club-best 8.8 rebounds - fourth in the ACC) has scored nine or fewer points in six of his last seven contests.

ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE (12-11, 3-8): The Eagles were at less than full strength with two starters out and another leaving against Pittsburgh. Freshman guard Wynston Tabbs (13.9 points) missed his sixth straight game with a knee injury, junior forward Nik Popovic (13.6 points, 7.2 rebounds) remained in concussion protocol and senior guard Jordan Chatman (13.6 points) did not play the second half after suffering a laceration on his finger. Bowman, who averages team bests of 20.0 points (third in the conference), 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists, has scored in double figures in an ACC-best 32 straight games.

TIP-INS

1. Boston College was ninth in the ACC in rebounding (36.7 per game) entering Saturday despite being the only team in the conference with three players averaging at least seven with sophomore forward Steffon Mitchell (7.7) joining Bowman and Popovic.

2. Miami, No. 1 Tennessee and No. 14 Kansas were the only teams in the nation entering Saturday with five players averaging 10.5 or more points.

3. The Eagles are 6-0 when holding their opponent to 66 points or fewer.

PREDICTION: Miami 67, Boston College 66