NCAA Basketball Sunday Action: Boston College Eagles vs. Auburn Tigers

Boston College at Auburn
Time: 2 PM ET, Dec 22, 2013
Spread: BC -2

Odds courtesy of Bovada

Boston College is just 4-7 on the season, but the Eagles will find itself 2-point favorites over the Auburn Tigers according to college basketball oddsmakers at Bovada. The Eagles are in need of a win in a bad way as losers of three of its last four. The team scored a 67-50 victory over Philadelphia on Dec 15, but had lost three straight prior to Purdue, USC and Maryland.

Boston College is led by 6’4″ sophomore guard Olivier Hanlan. Hanlan posts 19.4 points per game and he’s averaging 15.3 points per game over his last three. On Dec 12, the talented shooter hit just 5-of-14 from the floor against Maryland but he connected on 15-of-16 from the line to finish with 26 points. Last year as a freshman, Hanlan averaged 15.4 points per game and while his incremental increases have been just that, he has appeared to be a much more mature player in his second NCAA season.

Ryan Anderson has also made big contributions for the Eagles, averaging 16.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest. Anderson is hitting 52.1 percent from the floor and he’s scored in double figures in all but one BC game.

Auburn ended a two-game skid on Dec 19 with a 66-64 victory over Clemson. The team has not fared that well (5-3) against a very mediocre schedule, hence why BC is favored in this game.

6’2″ senior guard Chris Denson leads the Tigers in scoring with 19.8 points per game. Denson also grabs 5.6 rebounds and dishes out 2.8 assists per game, in his 31 minutes a night. Denson has made a dramatic leap from his junior season when he averaged just 11.9 per game, and Auburn will look to Denson for a big game to potentially upset an ACC squad.