Boston College vs #11 Florida State Road to March Madness

No. 11 Florida State is in position to at worst share the ACC regular-season title if the Seminoles win out to close the regular season, and they will be double-digit favorites on the NCAAB odds Wednesday against a bad Boston College team that already has fired its head coach. FSU is +2200 to win the national title.

How to Bet Boston College at Florida State NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Wednesday, 9 PM ET
Where: Donald L. Tucker Center
TV: ACC Network
Stream: ESPN app
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: TBA (FSU will be heavy favorite)

Last Meeting

The schools were supposed to play in Boston on Feb. 2 but it was postponed/canceled due to COVID issues. Last season, they met once and FSU won 80-62 at home when it was ranked No. 7. Balsa Koprivica scored 15 points as Florida State won its first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title in school history with the victory. That would be FSU’s final game last year because the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament were both canceled. The Eagles shot just 9 of 33 (27%) from 3-point range and had 19 turnovers.

Why Bet on Boston College? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

Boston College (4-13) fired coach Jim Christian a few weeks ago. Christian was in his seventh season at the helm since taking over for Steve Donahue in 2014. Assistant coach Scott Spinelli is serving as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

The team has struggled this season to fill out the lineup due to COVID-19 issues — at one point it was down to four available scholarship players because of positive coronavirus tests and the resulting contact tracing — and had a 21-day shutdown because of the virus.

BC returned from another COVID break on Saturday and upset Notre Dame 94-90. Boston College built a seven-point lead over the first 20 minutes, taking advantage of six Irish turnovers in the first half. Notre Dame trimmed into the lead throughout the second half, cutting a double-digit lead to five points with 1:51 remaining.

Jay Heath, who led Boston College with 19 points, hit a deep right wing three pointer to put the home team back up eight points and effectively seal the game. BC closed out the victory by converting five of their final six free throw attempts. Heath leads BC and ranks tied for 14th in the ACC in scoring (14.9 ppg). He is poised to become the first Eagle to repeat as scoring leader since Jerome Robinson.

DeMarr Langford had 17 points and six rebounds, making a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left after the Fighting Irish cut a 12-point second-half deficit to two, 90-88. He sank two more foul shots with 6 seconds left to ice it. Makai Ashton-Langford had 18 points and six assists, and Frederick Scott scored 18 points in his first game since injuring his knee in November. Steffon Mitchell added eight rebounds for the Eagles, who won for the first time since Jan. 12 and in its first game since Christian was fired on Feb. 15.

For the game, BC shot 52.5% (31-59) from the floor, connecting on 9-of-19 3-pointers and 23-of-32 from the charity stripe. – Boston College got 46 of its 94 points from the bench. That was BC’s home finale.

Why Bet on Florida State? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

FSU (14-4) was upset 78-70 at North Carolina on Saturday to see a four-game winning streak end. Seven-foot UNC freshman Walker scored a season-high 20 points to help North Carolina rally from 16 down on the way to giving Roy Williams his 900th career win. Kessler also had season highs of eight rebounds and four blocks for the Tar Heels. Kerwin Walton added 13 points for North Carolina, which made all 10 of its free throws in the final 2:15 to stay in control.

Trailing 41-29 at halftime, the Tar Heels shot 50% after the break. As North Carolina built confidence, Florida State shot just 32% after the break and committed more turnovers (12) than field goals (11).

“They did to us what normally what we’ve been doing to other people,” Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said. “They had an excellent gameplan defensively, they were extremely aggressive. They were so aggressive that I thought it creates indecision on some of our parts.”

Redshirt junior RaiQuan Gray scored in double figures for the 10^th consecutive game with a team-high 17 points, eight rebounds, and two assists for FSU. Gray was just two rebounds shy from his fourth career double-double. Freshman Scottie Barnes scored 12 points for the Seminoles and had a career high seven rebounds. Barnes had a career-high and team-high six steals.

Senior M.J. Walker was welcomed into the 1,000 career-point club with nine points. Walker was just the 47th player in school history to reach this esteemed mark.

Florida State is 39-12 in its last 51 ACC games in the last three seasons. Hamilton has been named to the Late Season Watch List for the Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year. On Monday, the school gave Hamilton a five-year extension. Hamilton is the all-time winningest coach in Florida State history and the fifth winningest coach in ACC history. He is a three-time ACC Coach of the Year, having earned the award in 2009, 2012 and 2020.

At No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches poll and No. 11 in the Associated Press poll, the Seminoles are the ACC’s highest-ranked team.