Wake Forest at Boston College: Preview

Wake Forest at Boston College

Location: Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Venue: Silvio O. Conte Forum

Tip-off: Saturday at 12:00 PM ET

TV/Internet: ACC Network and ESPN3.com

Current records:

Wake Forest: 10-8, 1-3 ACC (Lost to No. 4 Duke 91-73).

Boston College: 7-11, 2-2 ACC (Lost to NC State 76-62).

Series history: The Eagles have an all-time series lead of 9-3. Last season BC defeated the Demon Deacons twice by a combined margin of 30 points.

Deacons Illustrated breaks down the matchups by position:

Forward - Nikita Mescheriakov, WF -vs.- Ryan Anderson, BC. As a freshman Anderson is making an impact, and is one of the main reasons why the Eagles are in position to have a winning conference record if they can pull out a victory over Wake. He is averaging 9.4 points and leads Boston College in rebounding with 6.2 boards a game, while Mescheriakov only scores 7.1 points per game and pulls down 4.2 rebounds a contest. Edge: BC

Forward - Travis McKie, WF -vs.- Matt Humphrey, BC. McKie followed a two-point and four-rebound effort in Wake's blowout loss to NC State with 16 points and 10 rebounds against No. 4 Duke. Humphrey may struggle to get into a flow offensively with McKie's length and strength. Edge: WF

Center - Ty Walker, WF -vs.- Dennis Clifford BC. In wins over Clemson and Virginia Tech Clifford averaged 15 points and 5.5 rebounds per game to earn ACC Rookie of the Week honors. Walker is one of the ACC's top defenders (2.6 blocks per game) and battles on the boards, but is as unskilled as it gets offensively. Edge: BC

Guard - C.J. Harris, WF -vs.- Lonnie Jackson, BC. Harris rediscovered the shooting touch that made him one of the ACC's top scorers with an efficient 20 points (6-8 FG, 2-3 3Pt and 6-6 FT) in this week's loss to the Blue Devils. Jackson has shown glimpses of greatness, but has been inconsistent and ineffective in conference play. Edge: WF

Guard - Tony Chennault, WF -vs.- Jordan Daniels, BC. It is rare for Chennault to have a significant size advantage, but that is the case in his matchup with Daniels. The Philly sophomore has five inches and 42 pounds on Daniels, so look for Chennault to exploit that offensively and to use it to his advantage defensively. He broke through the lines of Duke's defense on a consistent basis, finishing with 13 points. Edge: WF

Bench - Wake Forest's bench has only manufactured 23 points in the last two games, and its quality of play has significantly declined since the beginning of ACC competition.

Boston College can go as deep as 11, but Patrick Heckmann, a freshman from Germany gives the Eagles a spark offensively with 9.8 points per game. Edge: BC

Coaching - Jeff Bzdelik, WF -vs.- Steve Donahue, BC. Both are in year two of their ACC tenures, and are still rebuilding their respective programs. Bzdelik built Air Force into a winner and made Colorado competitive, while Donahue took Cornell of the Ivy League to the Sweet 16. Edge: Tie