ACC Basketball: Duke tops power rankings despite loss

12. Boston College

Boston College earned some national attention after upsetting the number one team in the country, the Duke Blue Devils. The Eagles have quietly built a respectable resume with no bad losses to go along with this signature victory. Losing at Nebraska, at Providence, and to Texas Tech on a neutral floor will not keep them out of the postseason and few teams have a signature win of this magnitude.

However, a season-ending injury to Deontae Hawkins will limit their upside and will hurt their chances of making a postseason tournament. Hawkins, a grad transfer from Illinois St, averaged 12.4ppg and 9.1rpg and was their best frontcourt player by a significant margin.

Boston College was able to defeat Duke, without Hawkins, because of a career performance from star guard Ky Bowman. Bowman scored 30 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished out 9 assists against Duke and leads the team in scoring and assists for the season. He is joined by another All-ACC level guard in Jerome Robinson who has had an excellent junior season (16.8ppg, 49%3pt).

Boston College’s backcourt can compete with any backcourt in the country, but a thin roster will hold the Eagles back. John Carlos Reyes was the only reserve to see extended minutes against Duke so it will be interesting to see how long the Eagles can manage this short rotation.

While Boston College may have a better resume than some of the teams ahead of them, the loss of Hawkins and the thin frontcourt will hold them back. This is a much-improved team, but a postseason berth looks unlikely.