BC Travels to Dallas to Take On SMU

Saturday, February 21

Dallas, TX

4 p.m.

Boston College

Southern Methodist

Photo by: Chris Remick

February 20, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Eagles look for first program win against the Mustangs

CHESTNUT HILL, Ma. - The Boston College Men's Basketball Team is set to face Southern Methodist on Saturday, February 21 at 4 p.m. The game will be available on the ACC Network and heard on WEEI's web-only stream found on BCEagles.com

BOSTON COLLEGE VS. SMU - ALL-TIME SERIES
• Saturday's meeting will be the 3rd overall meeting between the Eagles and the Mustangs, with the first meeting taking place on Dec. 19, 1986 in Tokyo, Japan.
• SMU holds a 2-0 series lead all-time.
• BC fell short in the most recent matchup with SMU, 103-77, during the 2024-25 seaston at Conte Forum.

LAST TIME OUT
• Boston College dropped a road contest to Florida State, 80-72, Tuesday evening.
• Fred Payne led the Eagles with 22 points on 4-7 shooting from deep.
• Chase Forte (14), Luka Toews (14), and Aidan Shaw (10) also reached double digit scoring numbers for Boston College.

RISING ABOVE THE CROWD
• Boston College is making its mark nationally through 26 games this season across a variety of categories.
• Defensively, the Eagles rank 47th in the nation and third in the ACC in blocks per game (4.5). Jayden Hastings (45; 4th) and Aidan Shaw (33; T-10th) rank in the top 10 of the ACC in individual blocks.
• The team also holds the 52st best 3pt percentage defense (31.1; 4th ACC) and 74th best scoring defense (69.7; 4^th ACC) in the country.
• BC is also taking care of the ball, allowing just 10.4 turnovers per game. That mark ranks 62nd in the nation and fifth in the ACC.

MAKING THE LEAP - FRED PAYNE
• In his second full season with BC, Fred Payne has made improvements on both sides of the ball
• Payne has seen increases in points (+8.2), rebounds (+1.3), assists (+1.6) across 26 games.
• The redshirt-sophomore surpassed his total points tally (171) from last season in the first 15 games of the 2025-26 campaign.
• Defensively, the redshirt-sophomore has recorded 23 steals and 5 blocks; an increase of two steals and four blocks this season compared to his 2024-25 totals through 25 games.
• Using the PAR/G metric (points+assists+rebounds/game), Payne has jumped +11.0 year-over-year.

CLOSING THE DOOR, TURNING THE CORNER
• The Eagles emerged victorious in thrilling fashion in back-to-back home conference wins; out-scoring Syracuse and Pitt
by a composite score of 15-2 in the final three minutes of regulation.
• BC went on a 9-2 run to force overtime vs. Syracuse, followed by a 17-9 score differential in overtime to win 81-73.
• Trailing by three with 2:56 remaining against Pitt, the Eagles hit back-to-back threes to win the game off a six-point swing.
• Prior to the win over Syracuse -- Boston College had suffered eight losses (3; ACC, 3; Overtime, 2; Regulation) where late
runs by the opposition dissolved a second-half BC lead.

MARK THE MILESTONES
• Chase Forte secured 1,000 career points in BC's ACC opener against Georgia Tech (1/3).
• Donald Hand Jr. is five points away from reaching 1,000 career points; all have come with Boston College.
• Aidan Shaw reached 100 career games played against Harvard (11/26).
• Caleb Steger and Marko Radunovic made their collegiate debuts in the season opener against FAU (11/3). Radunovic
also scored his first career points in that game, while Steger claimed his in BC's home opener against The Citadel (11/6).

EDGERLEY FAMILY COURT
• The basketball court at Silvio O. Conte Forum will officially be named the Edgerley Family Court starting this season.
• The Edgerley's are active members of the Parents Leadership Council and are supporters of undergraduate financial aid
at Boston College, having co-chaired Pops on the Heights in 2023 and 2024.
• Sandra Edgerley serves on the Boston College Board of Trustees, where she is a member of the Academic Affairs
Committee. Paul Edgerley is a senior advisor at Bain Capital, where he was a managing director and played a leadership
role for more than 30 years.
• The court is a lasting symbol of the Edgerleys' commitment to enhancing the tradition of excellence at Boston College.

DEFENDING THE HILL
• Through 15 home games this season, the Eagles are holding opponents to 66.8 points per game while limiting them to
41.4% from the field and 30.5% from behind the arc.
• At least two BC players have scored in double figures in each home contest this season. Four Eagles scored in double
digits last time out against California, led by Fred Payne's 16 points.

CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Fred Payne dished a career-high seven assists against FAU (11/3).
• Marko Radunovic and Caleb Steger made their collegiate debuts against FAU. Radunovic recorded eight points, going
2-3 from behind the arc, and Steger played five minutes with two field goal attempts.
• Jason Asemota flourished in the home-opener against The Citadel (11/6), grabbing a career-high nine points and adding
four rebounds to lead all bench scorers.
• Chase Forte swatted a career-high three blocks against Central Connecticut State (11/11).
• Aidan Shaw secured a career-high 14 rebounds and matched a career-high in blocks (5) against Temple (11/15). He became
the first BC player to record five or more blocks since Quinten Post did against Louisville (2/13/24).
• Shaw dished a career-high three assists against Hampton (11/18).
• Jayden Hastings grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and registered his first career double-double (11p/10r) against
Davidson (11/21).
• Luka Toews recorded a career-high 21 points and six 3pt field goals, and Caleb Steger scored a career-high 12 points in
a win against FDU (12/22).
• Hastings tallied a career-high six blocks against No. 22 Clemson (1/13).
• Fred Payne scored a career-high 26 points, adding six assists, four 3pt field goals, and three steals vs. Syracuse (1/17).
• Boden Kapke put up a career-high of 19 points and five rebounds vs. Pittsburgh (1/21).
• Luka Toews dished out a career-high eight assists on the road vs. Florida State (2/17).

SIZZLING STREAKS
• Fred Payne has scored double-digit figures in all but four games this season. He is currently riding an 12-game double
figure scoring streak, surpassing 15 points in nine of those games.
• Payne has also surpassed 20+ points in six of his last 13 starts. His highest tally came in the overtime win against Syracuse,
where he scored a career-high 26 points.
• Donald Hand Jr. has reached double digit scoring numbers in 13 of his last 16 appearances. The redshirt-junior has
surpassed 10+ points in all but five games this season.
• Jayden Hastings recorded at least two blocks in five-straight games (Jan. 13-31) and rode a 10-game block streak ending
vs. California (Feb. 14). His highest total was recorded at No. 22 Clemson, where the redshirt-sophomore tallied six.
• Aidan Shaw rode a seven game streak with at least one block. His season-best mark came against Temple (5).
• Shaw also rode a seven game streak of at least eight rebounds per game. The stretch saw Shaw surpass 10+ rebounds
on multiple occasions, including a career-high 14 rebounds against Temple.

NEW FACES IN NEW PLACES
• Boden Kapke, Chase Forte, Jason Asemota, and Aidan Shaw are making their presence known on Chestnut Hill, logging
a combined 2,050+ minutes across 26 games this season. Shaw (14), Kapke (12), and Forte (11) have each made at
least 10 starts for the Eagles.
• Kapke (9.7) leads the transfers in scoring average, followed by Forte (6.0), Shaw (4.2), and Asemota (2.9).
• Individually, Shaw leads the team in rebounds (6.2), and Forte ranks fifirst on the team in steals (1.0)

FRESHMAN IMPACT
• Freshmen Caleb Steger has made appearances in every game so far this season, making one start and logging 295
minutes through 26 games.
• Steger is currently averaging 3.3 points on 32.8% from downtown, scoring a career-high 12 points vs. FDU on Dec. 22