Louisville will attempt to end an eight-game losing streak and pick up its first Atlantic Coast Conference victory of the season Wednesday night at Boston College.
Louisville guard El Ellis ranks fourth in the ACC with 17.8 points per game, but his Cardinals rank 15th (last) in scoring offense (62.4 points per game) and scoring defense (75.2).
Boston College is 14th in offense (65.9) and seventh in defense (69.7).
Louisville (2-17, 0-8) has had a week off since it dropped a 75-54 decision to Pittsburgh on Jan. 18.
“I thought we were on our heels,” Cardinals coach Kenny Payne said. “I feel bad for (the players) because I’m doing everything I can to explain to them just how hard winning is and how hard you have to play to win. What it requires. For whatever reason we get into spurts that they realize how hard it is and let go of the rope.”
Boston College (9-11 3-6) ended a four-game losing streak by beating Notre Dame on the road 84-72 on Saturday. Center Quinten Post had a career-high 29 points and 14 rebounds for the Eagles, who made 11 3-pointers.
“We’ve been coming so close in some of our games, coming up short at the end,” BC coach Earl Grant said. “It was just nice to see the guys try to play a complete game and get over the hump.”
Post has scored in double figures in six of seven outings after missing the first 13 games of the season with a foot injury.
“We were looking for me in the cracks of the zone, trying to play from there,” Post said. “It wasn’t really the game plan beforehand. It was just kind of what was working at that point.”
Emmanuel Okorafor, a 6-foot-9 forward/center, is expected to make his debut for Louisville on Wednesday. Okorafor had been playing in NBA Academy Africa, an elite basketball training center in Senegal for the top high-school age prospects from across Africa.
–Field Level Media