Eagles Take to the Road; Face USF on Sunday

Sunday, November 10

Tampa, FL

Noon

Boston College

USF

Photo by: John Quackenbos

November 09, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Game can be seen live on the CBS Sports Network at noon

By: Athletic Communications

BOSTON COLLEGE VS. USF - ALL-TIME SERIES

BOSTON COLLEGE VS. THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Today's game marks the first time that Boston College has faced an opponent from the American Athletic Conference.
The Eagles are 39-63 all-time versus teams that currently make up the AAC.
The bulk of those meetings have come between BC and UConn.
The Eagles are 35-55 in the series versus the Huskies.
Records vs. the rest of the AAC: Cincinnati 1-1; ECU 1-0; Houston 0-1; Memphis 1-1; SMU 0-1; Temple 0-4; Wichita State 1-0.

ON THIS DATE: NOVEMBER 10

Boston College is 3-1 all-time in games played on November 10.
November 10 is the 245th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. It also marks the dual celebration of National Indian Pudding Day and World Kindness Day,
Several notable events in history occurred on November 10 - 1619: Descartes has the dream that inspires his "Mediations on First Philosophy; 1674: the Dutch formally cedes New Amsterdam to the English; 1954: The Marine Corps War Memorial unveiled in Arlington, Va.; 1969: Sesame Street premieres on PBS; 1989: Demolition of the Berlin Wall begins.
Notable November 10 birthdays: country star Miranda Lambert; actor Richard Burton; rapper Warren G; comedian Tracy Morgan; composer Ennio Morricone; and protestant reformation leader Martin Luther.

PROPER DEBUT FOR THE BOSTON COLLEGE BACKCOURT

Derryck Thornton and Jay Heath - making their first appearances for Boston College - had a memorable 2019-20 debut.
The grad student and true freshman combined to score 42 of BC's 77 points.
Thornton scored a career-high 23 points, while Heath connected on 7-of-11 shots to add 18 points in the win over Wake.

JAY HEATH ANNOUNCES PRESENCE WITH AUTHORITY

Jay Heath scored 18 points, grabbed five rebounds, and logged four assists in his collegiate debut vs. Wake Forest.
Heath was 7-of-11 from the floor, including 1-of-2 from beyond the arc, and was 3-of-5 from the charity stripe.
After missing his first two FG attempts, he made 7-of-9 shots over the final 24:00 of play.
The last BC freshman to tally that stat line in his first collegiate game - Jerome Robinson vs. St. Francis N.Y. on Nov. 14, 2015.
Robinson - a 2018 lottery pick of the L.A. Clippers - had 19 points, six boards, and five dimes in his college debut.
The last BC player to have a stat line of 18-5-4 was Ky Bowman - now of the Golden State Warriors.
Bowman had 23 points, nine boards, and four assists against North Carolina on March 5, 2019.

TODAY'S BOSTON COLLEGE NOTE(S) YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT

Through the first 70 games of Nik Popovic's career at Boston College, he had zero games with at least 19 points.
Over his last 33 games, Popovic has had at least 19 points on eight occasions - including the season opener vs. Wake.
Steffon Mitchell is one of six active players nationally - to have at least 500 rebounds, 139 assists, 71 steals, and 68 blocks.

NIK POPOVIC: THE ACC'S MOST UNDERAPPRECIATED PLAYER

Nik Popovic enters the 2019-20 season as the most underappreciated player in the ACC.
Last season, he was one of only six players in the ACC to rank in the top 20 in scoring and rebounding and top 10 in FG%.
The others: RJ Barrett/Zion Williamson (Duke), Kerry Blackshear Jr. (VT), Torin Dorn (NCST), and John Mooney (ND).
He averaged 14.5 points (17th), 7.2 rebounds (15th), while connecting on 52.6% (3rd) of his FG attempts - all career-highs.
In his first two seasons at BC, the 6-10 forward registered two double-doubles in points and rebounds.
In 2018-19, Popovic had seven double-doubles - tying for 10th-best in the ACC.
Popovic has improved his season averages in scoring, rebounding and FG% in each of his three seasons at the Heights.

ALLOW ME TO RE-INTRODUCE MYSELF

Graduate transfer Derryck Thornton has returned to the ACC to play his final season of eligibility.
Thornton began his career at Duke in 2015-16, averaging 7.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 36 games (20 starts).
The Los Angeles native transferred to USC, where he played two seasons for the Trojans from 2017-19.
Thornton averaged 6.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 57 games at USC, posting a 1.73:1 assist/turnover ratio.
Last season, the 6-3, 195 lb. point guard averaged 7.7 points, 2.8 boards, 4.3 assists, and a 2.2:1 assist/turnover ratio.
His assist/turnover mark ranked third in the Pac 12, while his assists average ranked sixth-best in the conference in 2018-19.

STEFFON MITCHELL DOES IT ALL

Junior forward Steffon Mitchell has led Boston College in at least one statistical category (scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, blocked shots) in 56 of his 62 career games.
In the season opener vs. Wake, Mitchell led BC in rebounding (9) assists (4), and blocked shots (1).
Over his first two seasons of play, Mitchell has been one of the top rebounders in the ACC.
Last year, he ranked fifth overall in the league (7.9 rpg). As a freshman, he ranked seventh in the conference (8.3 rpg).
As a freshman, the Shakopee, Minn. native became the first true freshman in BC history to average better than 8.0 rpg.
A skilled passer from the post, he is averaging 2.2 assists per game as well as a 2.33:1 assist/turnover ratio in his career.
Last season, his FG attempts per game dropped from 5.1 FGA/g to 2.7, however, the 6-8 forward spent the summer getting up close to 1,000 jumpers per day inside Power Gym.

AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?

Boston College is one of 15 Division I men's basketball programs to have a pair of brothers on its roster.
The Hamiltons - Jared and Jairus - are entering their second season on the same squad.
Last year, the Charlotte natives appeared in the starting lineup on two occasions - at Louisville and at Clemson.
Jared and Jairus combined to average close to 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game a season ago.

BASKETBALL LINEAGE

Chris Herren Jr. and Kamari Williams are continuing the traditions of basketball excellence in their respective families.
Herren Jr. is the son of Chris Herren Sr., who was a two-time All-WAC honoree at Fresno State and played two seasons in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics.
He is now one of the nation's foremost public speakers on health, wellness and substance abuse.
Williams is the son of Walt Williams, an All-American forward at Maryland who played 11 seasons in the NBA after being drfted seventh overall by the Sacramento Kings in 1992.
Williams played with six different franchises - Sacramento, Houston, Toronto, Portland, Dallas, and Miami.

THE DEPARTED

Three of BC's top four scorers are gone from a season ago. Including Ky Bowman, Jordan Chatman, and Wynston Tabbs.
Bowman is with the Golden State Warriors, while Chatman is playing professionally in Romania.
Bowman - who was first nationally in minutes percentage (KenPom.com) at 96.8% - ranked fourth in the ACC in scoring (19.0), 11th in rebounding (7.5), and eighth in assists (4.0). His 37.4% 3FG% ranked eighth in the league.
Chatman's 13.2 points per game average ranked 25th in the ACC, while hsi 82% clip from the FT was third-best in the league.
Tabbs will miss this season with a knee injury.
The trio combined to make 154 of BC's 218 3-pointers from a season ago.
The Eagles return 44% of its scoring, 65% of its rebounding, and 40% of its assists from a season ago.
Nik Popovic is the team's top returning scorer (14.5 ppg) while Steffon Mitchell (7.9 rpg) is BC's top returning rebounder and assists man (2.3 apg).