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Preview: Boston College v. Texas Tech

V.
No. 7 Boston College v. No. 10 Texas Tech

Game Time: 11:25 a.m.

CBS
Team Pts. Reb. FG% 3P% KP Rank Off. Eff. Def. Eff.
Boston College 74.6 34.6 .479 .349 42 11 92
Texas Tech 71.6 30.8 .453 .412 68 58 82

Boston College Players to Watch (* Denotes Probable Starter):

No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Min. Pts. Reb. Ast.
3 *Jared Dudley F 6-7 225 Sr. 38.6 19.0 8.3 3.0
4 *Tyrese Rice G 6-1 190 So. 36.4 17.2 3.3 5.5
23 *Sean Marshall G 6-6 212 Sr. 32.6 14.8 4.5 1.9
34 Shamari Spears F 6-6 245 Fr. 22.1 7.3 4.8 0.9
32 *John Oates F 6-10 235 Jr. 21.2 4.7 3.7 0.8
0 Marquez Haynes G 6-3 185 So. 17.3 3.9 1.2 1.7
44 Tyrelle Blair C 6-10 240 Jr. 16.0 2.6 2.7 0.2
22 *Tyler Roche F 6-7 208 Fr. 11.4 1.8 1.7 0.6

Texas Tech Players to Watch (* Denotes Probable Starter):

No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Min. Pts. Reb. Ast.
22 *Jarrius Jackson G 6-1 185 Sr. 37.9 20.2 3.4 1.7
3 *Martin Zeno G 6-5 202 Jr. 35.5 16.5 5.5 3.3
42 *Charlie Burgess G 6-1 190 Jr. 30.8 8.9 4.0 2.6
32 *Jon Plefka F 6-8 245 Sr. 18.8 6.8 3.1 0.7
44 Darryl Dora F 6-9 250 Sr. 18.2 5.3 2.7 1.5
13 Decensae White F 6-6 200 Fr. 13.3 4.3 2.2 0.6
20 *Alan Voskuil G 6-3 170 So. 13.8 3.7 1.5 0.9
30 Michael Prince F 6-7 205 So. 12.9 2.0 2.0 0.9
41 Damir Suljagic F 6-8 248 So. 9.5 1.4 1.9 0.5

Keys To The Game:

  • Stop Dudley: Jared Dudley has been great for the Eagles. At the very least he's been a constant inside presence for BC, especially when center Sean Williams was dismissed from the team. Dudley hasn't scored 10 points or less all season, which is a testament to his ability. The likely defender will be Suljagic, but I don't think we would at all be surprised to see Knight have Zeno guard Dudley. I think that Dudley is a quicker player than OSU's Mario Boggan, but the concept is the same, put a more athletic defender on Dudley and see if he can adjust. Either way, it will be interesting to see how Knight reacts.
  • Zeno To Go Baseline: Martin Zeno had a horrible game against Kansas State and despite the post-season accolades Jackson received, I've always believed that Zeno was the more consistent player for Tech. Tech needs to get Martin back on track, whoever is matched up on Zeno is not going to be athletic enough to cover him baseline. I'd love to see Zeno force a few early shots or do whatever it takes to get him in the flow of the game early.
  • Burgess Must Play Defense: Sophomore guard Tyrese Rice is a gifted scorer and it will be squarely up to Burgess to contain Rice. I often criticize Burgess because more times than not, his line is not littered with fancy stats and large numbers. Well, Thursday may be one of those times, but I'll take it if it means that Burgess has shut down Rice. Rice is coming off a rough outing against North Carolina where he only scored 5 points. If Burgess can make stopping Rice his primary goal, and Burgess is able to contain Rice, then I really like Tech's chances.
  • Rebound Like There's No Tomorrow: Boston College is a big squad. They aren't a particularly deep club, but they are big. Other than Rice, their starting lineup consists of two 6-6 players, a 6-7 forward and a 6-10 center and you're probably thinking that they are going to murder Tech on the boards. Believe it or not, BC is not particularly adept at rebounding the ball despite their size. This is the perfect opportunity for Tech to take advantage of another poor rebounding team. This will mean that all parties will have to contribute, which means that Tech will be looking for assistance from Dora (who may be in the doghouse for the remainder of the year), Suljagic and White, and all of these players have got to step up and play well.