North Carolina seeks to avoid third straight defeat

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina plays at home for the first time in 2018 on Tuesday night and the No. 20 Tar Heels are hoping to get back on track.

That's no guarantee against a much-improved Boston College team that has already won a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference games.

"There's not much relief because Boston College is coming to town," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said Monday.

The Tar Heels (12-4, 1-2 ACC) have lost back-to-back games for the first time since February 2016. There hasn't been a three-game slide for North Carolina since January 2014, something it hopes to avoid at the Smith Center.

So this might not be the best time for Boston College to be showing up. Eagles coach Jim Christian said there's no reason to think the Tar Heels have taken a big drop.

"I see a very good basketball team. I see a team when shots go in, everybody looks good," Christian said. "... They've also played two (ACC) road games. It's not an easy game on the road. They've played two fantastic teams on the road. They're the defending national champion. Until somebody knocks them off the pedestal, that's how I view (them)."

North Carolina got bogged down again at Virginia, where it dropped a 61-49 decision Saturday.

"One thing that really hurt us was turning the ball over and the other was that we shot the ball really poorly," Williams said.

North Carolina's losses last week came to two nationally ranked teams, with a setback at Florida State before the Virginia game.

Boston College (11-5, 2-2), which defeated then-No. 1 Duke last month, is coming off Saturday's 77-71 victory against visiting Wake Forest.

Junior guard Jerome Robinson of Boston College will be making a homecoming of sorts because he's from nearby Raleigh. In four ACC games, he's averaging a league-best 26.5 points per game (while he's fourth in the ACC at 18.4 for all games this season).

"Especially in ACC play, his numbers have been staggering," Christian said. "I just think he's a more mature player."

Boston College's offense has cranked up. In six of the team's games, five players have reached double-figure scoring totals.

This will be the first time all season that someone other than forward Luke Maye enters a game as North Carolina's leading scorer. Guard Joel Berry is averaging 17.9 points per game, while Maye has dripped to 17.1. That duo ranks fifth and sixth in ACC scoring.

But the player that the Tar Heels most might like see rolling again is senior guard Theo Pinson. Williams said he's the team's best play-maker.

"We need him to get going," the coach said. "He has really struggled the last couple of games. He's not the only one. It has just been a difficult time these last couple of games."

North Carolina has been consistent from half to half in some ways. The Tar Heels have scored 661 points in the first halves of games and 661 in the second halves.

North Carolina is 14-4 against Boston College since the Eagles joined the ACC. The Tar Heels have won the last 10 meetings.