Boston College’s lack of success on the road, albeit in a small sample size, could provide Notre Dame with some confidence to end its current losing streak.
The Eagles look to hand the Fighting Irish a fifth straight loss in Monday night’s Atlantic Coast Conference matchup in South Bend, Ind.
Boston College (9-7, 1-4 ACC) has played only two true road games this season, losing 72-66 at Wake Forest on Dec. 7 and 85-64 at Georgia Tech on Jan. 4. The Eagles, who play three of their next four away, didn’t shoot better than 42.4 percent in either contest.
They followed that loss to the Yellow Jackets with a 79-71 home defeat against Syracuse on Saturday.
The Eagles committed just six turnovers against the Orange, but went 4-of-16 from 3-point range and 13-of-20 from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Syracuse shot 49.2 percent with only five turnovers.
“We did many things right (Saturday),” Boston College coach Earl Grant said.
“(But) it’s a margin game, and it’s a possession game, and it’s a small margin.”
Eagles star Donald Hand Jr. (14.7 points, 7.4 rebounds per game) scored 20 with nine boards Saturday. It was a solid bounce-back after Hand totaled 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting in his previous two games.
Boston College has won four straight against the Irish (7-9, 1-4), who have lost nine of their past 12 games overall. During its current four-game slide, Notre Dame has dropped a pair of one-point games and also put a scare into one of the nation’s top programs.
On Saturday, the Irish trailed 14-0 at No. 4 Duke, but were within four points in the final minute before falling 86-78. Despite the result, Notre Dame’s competitiveness and ability to make adjustments amid the ebb and flow of a game has pleased coach Micah Shrewsberry.
“For us to be able to go from game to game and be able to change some different stuff is a credit to our guys,” Shrewsberry said.
With 23 points Saturday, Markus Burton (18.9 ppg) remains Notre Dame’s star. In his nine games (eight starts) this season, Burton has shot 46.3 percent. He totaled 29 points on 13-of-26 shooting in two games versus Boston College last season.
–Field Level Media
