BC EAGLES EDGE UNC TAR HEELS IN GREENSBORO

Chapel Hill, NC is 45 miles from Greensboro. Chestnut Hill, MA is 640 miles from Greensboro. In a game that was essentially a road game, the BC Eagles were able to hold on against #10 North Carolina 85-82, earning a spot in the ACC finals against #3 Duke. This was the second time the Eagles defeated UNC and it was probably the more impressive victory considering how well the Tar Heels have been playing, beating Duke on the road only a few days prior to this game.

Craig Smith and Jared Dudley led the way. Smith had 23 points and 15 rebounds for his second double double of the tournament. Dudley played all 40 minutes of the game and contributed 21 points. Sean Marshall had 14 points for BC, and freshman Tyrese Rice added 10 off the bench. Points off the bench were the difference in this one, one of the differences, at least. BC had 14 points from bench players while UNC only had 6.

The game was a close one the entire way through. BC clung to a 43-42 lead at halftime. In the 2nd half, they pulled away, leading at times from between 8 to 12 points. In the closing minutes, as UNC got more aggressive and BC more conservative, the gap closed. However, BC hit a few key baskets that secured them a victory and a spot in the finals.

Now it is on to face Duke. Much like UNC, Duke will essentially be playing a home game. This game is a winnable game for BC. Duke had some struggles to close out the regular season with a home loss to UNC and a loss to unranked Florida State. The two teams played each other on February 1st with Duke eaking out an 83-81 victory at Chestnut Hill.

However, there are many reasons why Duke is the #3 team in the country. They will probably be the #1 team if they win this game after #1 UConn and #2 Villanova each had early losses in the Big East tournament. They've only lost 3 games all season. Two were on the road, and one was against arch-rival North Carolina. They haven't had an easy schedule to navigate, either. This isn't Gonzaga, here. They beat Memphis, now the 5th ranked team in the country. They beat Texas in Austin when Texas was #2 in the nation. They beat Indiana on the road when Indiana was ranked 16th. They've beaten a good number of good and solid teams and beaten up on many opponents. They've scored over 100 points twice, over 90 7 times (including 97 against Texas), and over 80 on 19 occasions this season. They're a powerhouse.

This game is almost a no lose situation for Boston College. Nobody would expect them to beat Duke in Greensboro, especially considering Duke's history in the ACC tournament (16 titles, 6 of the last 7). However, the Eagles have made it to the ACC finals, beat UNC on a national stage and have probably secured themselves a 3rd seed in the NCAA tournament regardless of the outcome of this game. They have an opportunity here to do even better than that. If they can win this game, they could earn themselves a 2 seed.

At the moment, ESPN.com's Bracketology has the Eagles as a 4 seed, but this might have been before BC beat UNC and it was a good 4 seed going up against Kent State, then the winner of West Virginia or San Diego State. Today's game against Duke could be the biggest game in Boston College history if they win it.

Sources and Resources for this post:
ESPN.com
How Far Is It? by Indo.com