No. 22 Virginia (6-2, 2-0) at Boston College (2-8, 0-4 ACC)

2 p.m., ACC Network

After earning a second-straight win on Wednesday night against Wake Forest, the Cavaliers will go on the road to Chestnut Hill looking for a 3-0 start to conference play. Virginia will head north to face a reeling Boston College team that currently sits at the bottom of the ACC standings.

BC has had a rough start to the season, with two wins coming over Rhode Island in the second game of the season and over Maine, a 1-4 team ranked 344th out of 357 D1 teams in KenPom. The Eagles are looking to snap a three-game losing skid and to beat the Cavaliers at home for the second straight year. And despite the poor record Boston College has been more competitive than it seems, at least in some games.

BC took Villanova down to the wire in the season opener and in its last game at Duke, the Eagles raced out to a 41-25 first-half lead before it slipped away after halftime. They ultimately lost 83-82 in Cameron Indoor and perhaps that decent showing will give them some momentum heading into tomorrow’s game. But in other games, BC has looked lost, like when the Eagles were roasted by Syracuse 101-63 at home.

From a metrics standpoint, Boston College has been better than the W/L record shows. The Eagles are a top-100 team in efficiency on both ends of the floor and have some areas of strength and some glaring weaknesses on offense and defense. When they have the ball, they rank 82nd in efficiency, averaging 74.2 points per game. BC likes to get up and down the court, ranking 43rd-fastest in tempo. It’s not a particularly strong shooting team, making just 33.3 percent of 3-point tries. The Eagles are better around the rim, making 53.6 percent of their two-point field-goal attempts. They have also struggled at the free-throw line, making 68.4 percent of their shots from the charity stripe. It’s a bit of a contradiction, but BC moves the ball pretty well, ranking 27th nationally in assist rate, but also turn sthe ball over quite a bit, ranking 226th nationally in turnover rate.

On defense, the Eagles are 128th in efficiency, and have been on the wrong end of too many great shooting performances. They allow opponents to shoot 56.2 percent on two-pointers, 313th nationally, and 35.1 percent on 3s, 238th nationally. BC creates a good number of turnovers, ranking 84th nationally in steal rate. And despite allowing a high percentage on two-point tries, Boston College blocks a decent number of shots.

The Eagles have more familiar faces than Wake Forest had on Wednesday night, with some veterans capable of creating buckets in the backcourt. They are led on offense by guards Wynston Tabbs and Jay Heath, both of whom have been solid contributors during their careers in Chestnut Hill.

Tabbs is back after missing all of last season with an injury and has been the team’s top scorer, despite only playing 27.6 minutes per game. He averages 14.6 points per game and scored in double-figures in each game this season until Wednesday’s loss at Duke, when he finished with six points. Tabbs is a great shooter, making 43.6 percent of his 3-point tries on 55 attempts this season.

Heath was a breakout performer last year as a freshman, and is averaging 13.1 points per game. Heath, meanwhile, does more of his damage around the rim but his shooting percentages aren’t quite as good from anywhere on the floor. Transfers Rich Kelly (9.6 points per game) and Makai Ashton-Langford (9.2) are players to watch in the backcourt as well, in their first season with BC after transferring from Quinnipiac and Providence respectively.

In the frontcourt, Boston College has some depth and experience. Veteran forward Stefon Mitchell is leaned on heavily, playing 30.2 minutes per contest, averaging 7.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He can step out and hit an occasional 3 but has only made 21.7 percent of his attempts this year. Sophomore forward C.J. Felder has developed into a very solid inside-out player and is BC’s top scorer among forwards. He is averaging 9.8 points per game with nine starts this season, playing just over 25 minutes per game. Felder’s biggest leap has come in his ability to make outside shots, going from a 16.1 percent 3-point shooter last year, making five of 31 tries, to 37.5 percent this year, making 12 of 32 shots from beyond the arc.

Boston College has been competitive at times, but is winless in league play. Assuming Virginia’s roster is near full strength, similar to what we saw on Wednesday, then this is a game the Wahoos should be able to win. Games at Conte Pavilion have been strange at times over the years but with no fans in the building, the atmosphere shouldn’t be much different than what we’ve seen from road contests there in the past.

The Cavaliers need to keep their momentum going to stay at or near the top of the ACC standings, and that starts with winning the games they are expected to take care of. Virginia shrugged off a hot start from Wake on Wednesday but away from home, the Hoos would be well served to start off hot, and take control of the game early. Do that, and Boston College will likely have to rely on a barrage of made 3s to rally.

The Eagles has as much raw talent, if not more, than Wake Forest, but UVa should be able to go on the road and win this one, even if the victory doesn’t come by a big margin.

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