Midseason Tournament Action
Boston College men’s basketball will attempt to make it five wins in a row to start the season when they face the Colorado State Rams on Wednesday in the first round of the Hall of Fame Tournament.
Who: Colorado State Rams (4-0) vs. Boston College Eagles (4-0)
When: Wednesday, November 22nd @ 1:30 PM
Where: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO
How to watch: This game will be available on CBS Sports Network.
Two undefeated teams, in BC and CSU matchup in the opening round of the Hall of Fame Classic Tournament. The four-team field is completed by the Loyola Chicago Ramblers and the No. 8 Creighton Blue Jays, who also play on Wednesday. The winners of the two first round games will play on Thursday, in a Thanksgiving championship finale, while the two loser will also play on Thursday in the consolation game.
Boston College enters the tournament 4-0 on the season, with three close wins in a row over non-conference opponents. Their last game was a 73-64, come from behind victory over Harvard in which three Eagles scored more than 17 points. Senior big man, Quinten Post, led the way with a 20-point, 19-rebound performance. Jaeden Zackery and Claudell Harris Jr. added 18 and 19 points respectively, and the entire team showed resilience after being down double-digits in the second half. BC is now ranked 109th in KenPom and have shown they need to improve before the ACC part of their schedule hits.
The Eagles’ first round opponent is also 4-0, but they have slightly different expectations for this season than BC. Colorado State was picked fifth in the preseason Mountain West poll, but already rank 54th overall in KenPom. They’ve gotten there with an impressive 113.3 adjusted offensive efficiency, good enough for 24th according to KenPom. The Rams’ 55.2% field goal percentage is 8th in the nation while their 23.3 assists per game is 5th. Their leading scorers are forward Joel Scott and guard Isaiah Stevens, who both average 16.8 points per game. Nique Clifford is their third-leading scorer as well as their top rebounded, averaging 7.5 per game.
Creighton comes into the tournament as the clear favorites and are currently the eighth-ranked team in the country. They have started 4-0 and are also ranked eighth overall by KenPom, and sit at fourth in adjusted offensive efficiency and 27th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
Loyola Chicago is 2-2 and has struggled to begin the season, dropping games to Florida Atlantic and University of Illinois at Chicago, and narrowly beating New Orleans, putting them at 122nd overall in KenPom.
First Round Prediction: Colorado State 84 – Boston College 74
Second Round Prediction: Boston College 80 – Loyola Chicago 68