BC – Texas Tech Preview

By Ben Neuwirth 

The Boston College Eagles will travel to Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the opening round of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tip-off. The other two teams in BC’s bracket are Northwestern and La Salle.

KEYS:

Crash the Glass

Boston College has done an excellent job rebounding so far this season, thanks in large part to new additions Deontae Hawkins and Steffon Mitchell. However, Maine, South Carolina St. and Sacred Heart were undersized teams, Red Raider center Tommy Hamilton stands at 6’11 and Texas Tech has 3 other guys who stand at 6’8 or higher. This will be a testament to how well the Eagles bigs can hold their own, especially if Nik Popovic gets into foul trouble again and Coach Jim Christian is forced to go small with Hawkins, Luca Kraljevic or even perhaps Mitchell at the 5.

O Jerome Robinson Where Art Thou?

The 2nd star of BC’s dynamic backcourt duo has had a rough start to the season, averaging 10, 4 and 4 on just 31% shooting. His last game against Sacred Heart was his worst as an Eagle, he shot just 1-14 from the floor and didn’t score for the first 30 minutes. He shot appears to be somewhat off but he still seems largely the same player, better even in some areas. He has added a gorgeous euro-step to his repertoire and looks even quicker sliding between defenders to the basket than he did last year but his layups seem to fall short. Hopefully this is just bad luck and the Jerome we know and love will return. As much as this year’s team is deeper and better than last year’s, they still aren’t going anywhere with “Rome leading the way.

Play Hawkins at Center

The graduate transfer from Illinois State had the best game of his short BC career on Tuesday, scoring 22 points and grabbing 8 boards. Many of these buckets came from Carmelo Anthony style jab step mid range j’s and in the handful of minutes Hawkins was on the floor as the 5 he dominated the slower defenders who weren’t used to guarding guys like him, who can handle the ball and shoot at will. In the post-game press conference he expressed confidence in playing center and he is already the best rebounder on the team (though Steffon Mitchell is in the rearview mirror). Putting Hawkins downlow should drag the Texas Tech centers out of the paint and open up lanes for Robinson and Ky Bowman. Popovic has been foul prone and while Johncarlos Reyes has played well, I’m still not convinced he is the answer. A Bowman-Robinson-Jordan Chapman-Mitchell-Hawkins lineup could be electric on both ends.

Prediction: This is a big test for the maroon and gold. Texas Tech is a power five school with real big men and guards who aren’t under 6 feet tall, unlike the Eagle’s first 3 opponents. Jerome Robinson will have to snap his cold skid to start the year and while Ky Bowman has been playing well, he’s due for an explosion game. BC might face a talent deficit here but the team is playing hard, well and together. I see victory here. BC 85 Texas Tech 80