No. 7 Virginia looks to stay hot against Boston College

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Did a few extra days off cool off the ACC’s hottest team? No. 7 Virginia, winners of five games in a row, is about to find out.

UVa, which hasn’t played since beating Wake Forest on the road last weekend, hosts Boston College on Saturday.

“We’ve been in this spot before,” said Virginia coach Tony Bennett. “You give them an extra day of rest so they can recover. ... There’s a balance, I think, in preparation between taking care of what you have to do, becoming better at who you are as a group, then obviously with an eye towards, alright, this is who we play and what they do.”

Bennett gave the team back-to-back days off, Sunday and Monday, after the Wake win before getting to work for Saturday’s meeting with the Eagles.

What have the streaking Cavaliers’ done well during their winning streak, the longest active one in the conference? A little bit of everything.

Virginia (15-3, 7-2 ACC) is averaging 71.8 points in the five wins while allowing just 63.4.

It’s shot 41.9% from 3-point range while recording 85 assists against just 36 turnovers.

It’s won the turnover battle in all five games, holding a staggering plus-19 mark in those contests.

“They’ve got veteran guards,” said Boston College coach Earl Grant, shortly before boarding a flight to Charlottesville on Friday afternoon. “Veteran guards take care of the ball. It’s pretty simple. They play smart as it pertains to valuing the ball.”

As for the Cavaliers’ impressive shooting numbers from beyond the arc, Grant said that starts with getting the ball inside, on drives and entry passes.

“Their ability to play in the paint is probably the best thing they do,” said Grant. “That probably leads to some of the 3s when the defense contracts. But you can’t take everything away.”

Might the longer-than-usual layoff between games snuff out some of that momentum? Recent history says UVa shouldn’t be too worried about that.

Virginia has played ACC games on back-to-back Saturdays with no weekday game in between in each of the past two seasons, winning them both.

Last year, it followed a home loss to Florida State by winning at Louisville seven days later. In 2020-21, the Cavaliers blew Clemson out by 35 points on the road on Saturday, Jan. 16, then came back the following Saturday and beat Georgia Tech by two in Charlottesville.

In all last season, with five days or more between games, UVa went 5-1.

Plus, BC is an opponent UVa has dominated in recent years.

Virginia has won nine of its past 10, including the three straight, against Boston College. The Eagles (10-11, 4-6) haven’t won in Charlottesville since 2011.

But BC has won back-to-back games – beating the dregs of the ACC, Notre Dame and Louisville – notching consecutive league wins for the first time this season.

“They’re a physical team,” said Bennett. “They’re tough-minded defensively.”

Wednesday night, the Eagles, playing at home, trailed Louisville by 12 points in the first half before rallying after the break. They went 1 for 11 from 3-point range in the first half, then connected on 7 of 11 attempts in the second, outscoring the woeful Cardinals by 16 during the final 20 minutes on their way to a 75-65 victory.

“It’s just taking the right shot,” said Grant. “We have a really good shooting team. I see these guys every day. But you shoot it good when the ball has energy and it’s moving and the shot finds you. If they come inside out, those are good ones.”