Odds Favor Clemson
Chestnut Hill, MA – A visit to Boston College won’t make rebounding from a frustrating loss any easier for Clemson.
On Tuesday night, the No. 12 Tigers look for their third straight win against the ACC rival Eagles overall, but their first ever at Conte Forum.
Clemson (19-3, 5-3) appeared to be headed to a fourth consecutive victory Saturday, but blew a 19-point second-half lead and lost 65-61 to Florida State at home.
Oddsmakers from Online Sportsbook Sportsbook.com have made the Clemson -3 point spread favorites for Thursday’s game against the Boston College. Current College Basketball Public Betting Information shows that 65% of more than 215 bets for this game have been placed on the Clemson -3.
The defeat, which came three days after the Tigers routed then-No. 4 Duke 74-47 at home, dropped them to 3-3 since opening the season with 16 straight wins.
"We’ve got to bounce back," said Clemson coach Oliver Purnell, whose team is in a four-way tie for third place in the ACC. "Now we have to go on the road and use the lessons from what Florida State did and what we’ve done in the past."
As Clemson tries to set a school record by winning 20 games for the third straight season, it again seeks its elusive first victory at Boston College. The Tigers are 0-3 in Chestnut Hill, including a 59-54 defeat on Feb. 24, 2007 – their most recent trip.
The Tigers, though, used balanced offensive efforts to dominate the Eagles in two games in 2007-08. Clemson won 78-56 at home last February and beat Boston College 82-48 in the ACC tournament.
The Tigers are also 5-1 on the road this season.
Demontez Stitt and Trevor Booker each had 11 points Saturday for Clemson, which faltered as the Seminoles closed with a 23-4 run.
"This is a very disappointing loss,” said Purnell, whose team committed 18 turnovers.
Booker, averaging a team-leading 14.9 points, looks to bounce back from his effort versus Florida State. He’d scored 21 in each of his previous two games.
Boston College (18-7, 6-4) is seeking its third straight home win, but like Clemson is trying to recover from a tough loss. The Eagles saw their overall five-game winning streak snapped Sunday with a 93-76 defeat at then-No. 7 Wake Forest.
Jeff Trapani had 19 points and Tyrese Rice added 18 for Boston College, which was outscored 47-29 in the second half after leading by one at the break.
"We did not execute defensively very well,” Boston College coach Al Skinner said. "We lost guys. At times, we had poor recognition on the defensive end. We lost our concentration. And offensively, we didn’t execute very well."
The Eagles will need better overall execution in this contest if they are to knock off their second ranked opponent in five tries this season. Boston College won 85-78 over then-No. 1 North Carolina on Jan. 4.
Rice, a senior guard averaging a team-leading 18 points, has not scored more than 17 in any of his five career games against Clemson.
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Posted: 2/10/09 2:30AM ET