Second half, 0:08, 67-62 Virginia: Jackson hits a 3-pointer to narrow the gap to five. Virginia's back on the line.
Second half, 0:11, 67-59 Virginia: A quick two by the Eagles makes it a two-possession game, but Jeff Jones keeps getting a kind rim on his free throws.
Second half, 0:25, 65-57 Virginia: The BC bench is full of long faces as the game and the season near an end. It's an eight-point margin.
Second half, 0:37, 63-55 Virginia: A missed 3-pointer by Sanders and a Virginia rebound gives the ball to the Cavaliers with a seven-point lead. Scott hits a free throw to make the margin eight.
Second half, 0:56, 61-55 Virginia: Farrakhan gets the basket and the foul to make it a nine-point game, but Sanders responds with three points of his own to keep the margin at six.
Second half, 1:35, 58-52 Virginia: As the shot clock winds, Sanders commits the travel instead of putting up a low-percentage shot. UVA responds with a quick foul of its own to reset the margin at six, but with 95 seconds remaining. Trapani is on the bench.
Second half, 3:34, 58-52 Virginia: Elmore has the hot hand and scored the last three BC baskets, but time's running out for his team. Zeglinski answers for UVA with two big shots.
Second half, 6:56, 53-46 Virginia: So much for momentum. Mike Scott drives hard to the basket and bisects the BC defense. The margin is back to seven.
Second half, 8:43, 49-46 Virginia: Sanders makes an uncontested dunk to narrow the gap to nine, then follows up with an uncontested field goal to narrow the gap to seven, then follows up with a tough fight to get BC within five. Elmore fights for a layup to get the Eagles to within three.
Second half, 11:57, 48-38 Virginia: BC's early momentum in the second half is stalled by a couple of missed rebound attempts and missed foul shots. Virginia's Jeff Jones gets a good shot off from the perimeter and is up to 9 points on the day.
Second half, 15:01, 41-35 Virginia: BC is getting more aggressive in the paint and Virginia's defense has yet to respond aggressively in the second half.
Second half, 19:27, 36-27 Virginia: The second half begins much the way the first half ended, with BC missing an inside shot and Meyinsse hitting one for the Cavaliers.
Halftime, 34-27 Virginia: Jackson managed to get a pair of points on the board for BC, but the big Virginia run has the Eagles trailing by seven at the half.
First half, 1:47, 34-25 Virginia: The Cavaliers are on an absolute roll right now, as Zeglinsky just hit another 3. Zeglinski now has 16 points.
On the next possession, Mike Scott got clobbered on a fast break but still finished with a bucket.
First half, 3:18, 29-25 Virginia: The Cavaliers have grabbed a bit of momentum, going on a 12-3 run.
Jeff Jones hit a killer 3 to beat the shot clock, and Jerome Meyinsse followed that up with a monster two-hand slam.
For BC, Trapani is 0-for-6 and Reggie Jackson is 2-for-6.
First half, 6:42, 24-23 Virginia: Joe Trapani is now 0-for-5 from the field.
First half, 7:23, 23-19 BC: The teams exchange some missed shots, and the score remains the same. It's essentially been a 1-on-1 battle thus far, with only Sanders and Zeglinsky showing an ability to put the ball in the basket.
First half, 9:46, 23-19 BC: Rakim Sanders knocked down another 3 and is now 4-for-5 from the field. On the other side, Sammy Zeglinsky is 4-for-6 for 10 points.
First half, 10:37, 20-17 BC: Neither team has seized control of this wide-open game. Only three combined fouls have been called as we near the midway point of the first half.
First half, 12:50, 16-13 BC: Rakim Sanders just pulled off a pretty impressive feat. First, he pumped a layup from the paint, forcing his defender into the air. With the defender literally on his back, Sanders waited before going up for an easy two.
Next time down the court, he drained a 3.
First half, 15:00, 10-9 Virginia: Sammy Zeglinski already has eight points for Virginia.
First half, 16:15, 9-8 BC: There are some noisy rims in Greensboro Coliseum, so note that every back-rim shot sounds that much uglier.
First half, 19:23: Joe Trapani just missed a shot, got his own rebound, then missed a second shot. Both were from inside the paint. Rough start.
12:13 p.m.: As the game begins, here's a programming note from NESN:
NESN will carry SNY’s coverage of the Red Sox-Mets game from Port St. Lucie, Fla., giving Red Sox fans another opportunity to see how the team is doing in spring training.
NESN HD throughout New England and NESN’s SD signal in Connecticut will show the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament coverage as originally scheduled.
For Direct TV subscribers in Connecticut, ACC basketball will be available on either channel 628 (HD) or 629 (SD).
Here is how NESN’s schedule will play out on NESN’s HD and SD channels:
On NESN HD (and NESN’s standard definition channels in Connecticut)
12-2 p.m.: ACC basketball — Boston College vs. Virginia
2-2:30 p.m.: ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament Show
2:30-4:30 p.m.: ACC basketball — Wake Forest vs. Miami
4:30-5 p.m.: Freezing Fenway
On NESN SD (except for Connecticut)
12-12:30 p.m.: NESN SportsDesk (R)
12:30-1 p.m.: NESN SportsDesk (R)
1-4 p.m.: Red Sox vs. Mets (from SNY)
4-4:30 p.m.: ACC basketball: Wake Forest vs. Miami (joined in progress)
4:30-5 p.m.: Freezing Fenway
At 5 p.m., the networks will rejoin together:
5-6:30 p.m: NESN Doubleplay – Boston College vs. Virginia
6:30-7 pm: WB Mason Bruins Face-Off Live
7-9:30 pm: Bruins at Flyers
9:30-10 pm: Bruins Overtime Live presented by Aceticket.com
12:08 p.m.: Minutes away from the tip in Greensboro, and to use the word "crowd" to describe the folks in attendance may be a bit of a stretch. Looks more like a gathering.
11:48 a.m.: The Boston College Eagles and Virginia Cavaliers are set to kick off the ACC Tournament on Thursday afternoon, with the tip set for 12 p.m.
Thursday's game is a rematch from March 3, when the Eagles topped the Cavaliers 68-55 at Conte Forum. Neither team is expected to make the NCAA Tournament, with BC at 15-15 and Virginia at 14-15. Yet it's March, and stranger things have happened in basketball.
Check back on the live blog throughout the game for updates.
