Take Over for Holy Cross vs Boston College
Nobody can accuse Boston College of avoiding matchups against regional teams with Saturday’s matchup vs. Holy Cross being the fourth game this season the Eagles will play against a team from New England. Boston College is the heavy favorite according to the college basketball lines.
Boston College owns wins over Fairfield, Harvard and Central Connecticut State. Holy Cross has lost three games in a row, including a 46-point loss to Rick Pitino and St. John’s, a 15-point loss to Maine and, most recently, a 78-67 defeat at the hands of Central Connecticut State.
The college basketball odds list Boston College as a 21½-point favorite. Before Boston College’s 85-55 win over Holy Cross in 2021 as a 16½-point favorite, the last time that the Eagles and Crusaders met was in 2012.
A.J. Willis and Declan Ryan have recently returned to action for Holy Cross.
Claudell Harris missed the last game for Boston College.
According to our sportsbook, the line in the Boston College-Holy Cross game is the largest among Friday’s games.
Boston College (+8000) was ahead of only Notre Dame in the odds of winning the ACC title coming into the season.
When looking at the college basketball futures odds, Boston College was priced at +100000 in the odds of winning the national championship coming into the season.
While four ACC teams are ranked in the Top 25 in the Associated Press poll and two others are also listed on the ballots, Boston College is not receiving votes in the poll.
Octave Hitting the Right Notes
It is hard to imagine what the Holy Cross games would look like without senior guard Joe Octave.
Octave, in his second season at Holy Cross after beginning his career at Air Force, has gone from shooting 43.6% to 50.5%. He is also connecting on a career-high 40% from 3-point range.
Octave is averaging 27.5 points in the two games won by Holy Cross and that included a 33-point effort in a win over Georgetown.
He is the only double-digit scorer on the Crusaders and that has led to a 2-7 start for Holy Cross.
Holy Cross has covered against the Vegas college basketball odds in just one of its last seven games.
All Hands on Deck for Eagles
Boston College bounced back from an overtime loss to North Carolina State by getting 46 bench points in an 82-68 win over Central Connecticut State.
Freshman Donald Hand and senior Mason Madsen came off the bench to combine for 31 points and each of them had three 3-pointers in the victory. That is something to consider when looking at the NCAA basketball predictions.
It was a far cry from the North Carolina State game when Boston College’s reserves had 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
The offense continues to run through 7-foot senior Quinten Post. He leads the Eagles in scoring (20 points per game), rebounding (8.3) and is second in assists. He is also among the national leaders with 2.1 blocked shots per game.
list of players averaging
• 20+ points/game
• 8+ rebounds/game
• 2+ assists/game
• 2+ blocks/game1. Quinten Post
*end of list* pic.twitter.com/jswOzUd3Hu
— BC Men’s Basketball (@BCMBB) December 7, 2023
Boston College is 1-4 against the college basketball spread in its last five games.
Go With Boston College
This is a tough game to get a handle on since the teams don’t play very often. Holy Cross is not a good team but can Boston College cover such a large point spread?
Considering that Holy Cross is being outscored 78-64 this season, it could be worth rolling with Boston College to not only win outright but to cover.
Holy Cross has dropped its last 10 road games against Boston College.
It is worth noting that eight of Boston College’s last 12 games went over the total and so did 12 of the previous contests played by Holy Cross. That makes the 139½-point total rather enticing. Keep that in mind when making NCAAB picks today.
College basketball Pick: Over 137 (-110)
Holy Cross vs Boston College Game Information
- Game: Holy Cross 2-7 (0-0 Patriot League) vs Boston College 6-3 (0-1 ACC)
- Location: Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA
- Date/Time: Friday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m. ET
- Holy Cross vs Boston College Live Stream: TBS.com
Questions Of The Day
Who are the top 3 players to place a bet in the Holy Cross vs Boston College game?
Leading scorers Quinten Post of Boston College and Joe Octave of Holy Cross while Jaeden Zackery, the Eagles’ leader in assists and steals, are options in the player props.
Which Holy Cross player is most likely to get over 5 assists in the Holy Cross vs Boston College game?
Bo Montgomery has had at least five assists in three games this season.
