Thursday, March 13th, 9:30 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Charlotte Bobcats Arena (20,200) -- Charlotte, North Carolina. Television: Raycom. Home Record: Boston College 11-8, Maryland 13-6. Away Record: Boston College 2-7, Maryland 5-4. Neutral Record: Boston College 0-1, Maryland 0-3. Conference Record: Boston College 4-12, Maryland 8-8. Series Record: Maryland leads, 5-4.

GAME NOTES: The opening round of the 55th-annual ACC Tournament will conclude this evening, as the sixth-seeded Maryland Terrapins take on the 11th-seeded Boston College Eagles at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. The winner of this game will take on third-seeded Clemson in quarterfinal action on Friday. Al Skinner's Eagles suffered through a miserable campaign this year, especially in- conference. BC finished in the league basement, tied with NC State for the worst conference mark at 4-12. In addition, the team brings a six-game losing streak into the postseason and has only tasted victory once since January 15th. The Terrapins weren't much better down the stretch, losing four of their last five games, including a 91-76 loss to Virginia in the regular-season finale. The result was an 8-8 finish in the ACC, despite a decent 18-13 overall record. There is certainly some history here for Maryland's Gary Williams, as he was head coach at Boston College from 1982-86 and won his 600th career game in Chestnut Hill on February 6th of this year. With that win, the Terps took a 5-4 lead in the all-time series.

One of Boston College's main problems this season has been a lack of offensive depth. The team comes into the postseason averaging just 71.9 ppg (10th in the ACC), despite shooting a solid .460 from the floor (fifth in the league). The Eagles have a scoring machine in the form of junior guard Tyrece Rice, who ranks second in the conference at 21.3 ppg. Rice has scored 20 or more points on 16 occasions this year, including three games of 30 or more and one game with over 40. Still, the offensive eruption game-in and game-out from Rice did little to land the team in the win column. Providing a modicum of scoring help are freshmen Rakim Sanders (11.3 ppg) and Corey Raji (8.4 ppg.)

The Terrapins fell apart as the regular season came to a close, but never count out the Terps, who have an extremely talented roster. Gary Williams' squad is led by the inside/outside tandem of All-ACC Second Team members Greivis Vasquez (17.5 ppg, ACC-best 6.8 apg) and James Gist (15.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg). Just a sophomore, the best is yet to come from Vasquez, who may just be the one of the best young guards in the game. Gist is a force in the paint at 6-9, 235 and was a member of the All-Defensive Team as well as Second-Team All-Conference. Depth at the offensive end continues past Vasquez and Gist, as 6-8 Bambale Osby (11.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg) aids in the frontcourt, while 6-4 Eric Hayes (10.3 ppg) does the same from the perimeter.

The Eagles have the explosive Rice, but little else and that will certainly prevent an extended engagement in Charlotte. Maryland on the other hand, has the type of personnel to stick around awhile and make things difficult on the conference elite.

Predicted Outcome

Maryland 77, Boston College 68