It’s been a brutal start to ACC play for Ron Sanchez and the Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team. They’ve lost five straight games, and have yet to win a basketball game in 2025.
The last home game for the ‘Hoos ended with the most disastrous minute of basketball that they’ve played all season as SMU hit three three-pointers in the final thirty seconds of the game, including this game-winner with less than one second to go.
Fortunately for Virginia, Boston College is also 1-6 in the ACC and on a four-game losing streak themselves. Boston College is currently 16th in the ACC, and Virginia is 17th (it hurts to even write it). Since only the top-15 ACC teams make the ACC Tournament, this game could decide whether the Wahoos’ season extends past March 8th.
Here are three things to know, two players to watch, and a prediction for UVA’s Tuesday night matchup with Boston College.
Tuesday, January 21 at 7:00 ET
ACC Network
A week ago, I mentioned that Virginia was slated to have their lowest finish on KenPom — which measures offensive and defensive efficiency per possession — as far back as the site goes, 1997. They currently sit at 134th in Division 1. Somehow, Boston College is 70 spots lower!
The Eagles have the lowest KenPom rating of any power conference team. To put it into perspective, the four teams ranked directly above them are Nicholls, Maine, Drexel, and UT Arlington. They’re 264th in effective field goal percentage, and 238th in effective field goal defense. They don’t defend the three well, they don’t force turnovers on defense, they miss a lot of shots inside the paint, and they don’t like to shoot three-pointers.
UVA is pretty low in all these metrics as well. But, at JPJ, KenPom has them as seven-point favorites. If the Cavaliers can’t win this one, I don’t know when their next win will come.
Boston College coach Earl Grant had his best season with the Eagles last year. They finished 20-16 (8-12 in the ACC), and advanced to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament where they lost in overtime to Virginia (thanks to Reece Beekman’s 11 assists). Just as the arrow was pointing up in Grant’s third season at Boston College, they lost their top five scorers, including star center Quentin Post who was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in the second round.
The Eagles return a few bench pieces from last year’s squad, including their leading scorer Donald Hand Jr. (a familiar name for UVA fans in Generation X and beyond). But their efforts to rebuild a team through the transfer portal and some bench returners has not been enough this season.
Last time Virginia lost to Boston College at JPJ, LeBron James had yet to win an NBA Championship, Michael Scott was still regional manager at Dunder Mifflin, and Tony Bennett was in his second season with Virginia coaching a promising freshman sharpshooter by the name of Joe Harris.
Over the last few years, the Cavaliers have not done a great job of protecting their home court. They’ve lost several home-court winning streaks and, as far as I know, this is their longest active home-winning streak against an ACC opponent. The players need something to fight for, something to take pride in. I hope that Ron Sanchez informs them of this winning streak, and they exhibit some more fight on Tuesday night.
Twenty-five years ago, 5-foot-11 point guard Donald Hand was averaging about 15 points and five assists per game, as a team captain for three straight seasons under newly-instated coach Pete Gillen in Charlottesville.
Fast forward to 2025 and his son is the best player on Boston College as a sophomore, averaging 14.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-5 combo guard is a solid spot-up three-point shooter (36.7 percent) with long-arms and a high release that make it difficult to contest his shot. He’s the Eagles’ most explosive player with the ball in his hands, capable of making difficult shots around the rim and leading one-man fast breaks.
Perhaps he’ll consider following in his father’s footsteps by joining the Cavaliers in the future. But, for now, he’ll do everything he can to take advantage of a reeling Virginia team that lacks athleticism at guard.
Boston College’s best transfer addition is fifth-year senior forward Chad Venning. He averaged around 13 points per game at St. Bonaventure over the last two years. At 6-foot-10 and 280 pounds, Venning is predominantly a low-post player. He backs down smaller big-men before finishing with a right-handed baby hook that’s tough to defend.
Where he could really kill Virginia is with second chance baskets on offensive rebounds. He might have his way on the glass with Virginia’s younger, slimmer bigs like Blake Buchanan and Jacob Cofie. UVA has done a terrible job of keeping opponents from getting offensive rebounds, and Venning is a physical player who will make softer players pay.
If there was ever a year for UVA to lose a home-game to Boston College, it would be this year. It seems like Virginia can’t catch a break, and the players look more defeated on a consistent basis than I can ever remember.
But this Virginia team is more talented than Boston College, and the Eagles don’t have the roster strengths or schematics that generally create nightmares for this Cavaliers team. Isaac McKneely has to shoot better, and UVA’s bigs have to be physical. If Virginia hits eight or more threes, they should win comfortably. I think McKneely gets hot, Rohde adds a few, and Sharma shines as well.
Virginia 65, Boston College 54
