Boston College hasn’t won a basketball game since Jan. 21, but the Eagles can end that drought when they face visiting Cal on Saturday afternoon.

Boston College (9-15, 2-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) will be attempting to end a five-game losing streak but may have to do so without guard Donald Hand Jr. Hand injured his leg with 7:45 remaining in the first half of Wednesday’s 70-64 loss to Stanford. He left the court and didn’t return to the game.

Boston College coach Earl Grant said Hand was scheduled to have an MRI on Thursday.

“He walked around pretty good in the locker room at the end,” Grant said following the loss. “I don’t know about (a time frame). I’m not a doctor.”

Hand, who is in his fourth season with Boston College, has started in each of his team’s 24 games. He’s averaging 13.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

Cal (17-8, 5-7) has lost two straight games, including Wednesday’s 107-100 setback at Syracuse in double overtime. Dai Dai Ames led the Bears with 23 points in the loss. Ames is averaging a team-high 17.2 points per game and has scored at least 20 points 10 times this season.

“(Ames) is the ultimate warrior,” Cal coach Mark Madsen said. “He’s the guy that’s going to attack. He knocks down shots. He knocks down the three. He makes the long two, and he finishes well at the rim. He made some key plays to help put us in a position, which is all you can ask on the road.

“We have to rebound the ball better. We gave up 13 offensive rebounds to Syracuse. We also put them to the free throw line 42 times. That’s inexcusable. We have to clean that up, and we will clean that up.”

Cal’s John Camden is averaging 2.7 made 3-pointers per game, which ranks fifth in the ACC.

–Field Level Media

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery after an alleged dispute with his personal chef.

The arraignment at Massachusetts’s Dedham District Court had been delayed so Diggs could participate when the Patriots played last Sunday in Super Bowl LX.

The next scheduled appearance in the case is an April 1 pretrial hearing. Diggs was released on his own recognizance.

The alleged incident occurred Dec. 2, a day after the Patriots beat the New York Giants on “Monday Night Football.” The chef told Dedham police that during an argument about compensation he owed her, Diggs allegedly struck and choked her.

Through his attorneys, Diggs has denied the charges, saying the allegations are unsubstantiated and motivated by a financial dispute.

“He is completely innocent of these false allegations that have been alleged against him,” Diggs’ attorney, Mitchell Schuster, told reporters Friday. “We’re confident that after the facts and evidence reviewed in this case, he will be completely exonerated.”

Diggs, 32, signed a three-year, $63.5 million contract that includes $6 million that fully guarantees on March 13. In his first season with the Patriots, he led the team in catches (85) and receiving yards (1,013) with four touchdowns in 17 games (all starts).

New England lost the Super Bowl to the Seattle Seahawks, 29-13.

The Patriots have not commented on the matter since releasing a statement in support of Diggs after the initial news of his arrest.

“The New England Patriots are aware of the accusations that have been made regarding Stefon Diggs. Stefon has informed the organization that he categorically denies the allegations. We support Stefon,” the Patriots said Dec. 30. “We will continue to gather information and will cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities and the NFL as necessary. Out of respect for all parties involved, and given that this is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time.”

–Field Level Media

In a game that could determine which team gets left out of next month’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, Georgia Tech visits Notre Dame in a meeting between a pair of basement dwellers on Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Ind.

Georgia Tech (11-14, 2-10 ACC) has dropped six in a row while Notre Dame (11-14, 2-10) is riding a five-game losing streak.

The struggling teams are in a three-way tie with Pittsburgh for last place in the ACC. If the season ended today, all three teams would miss out on the conference tournament in Charlotte in the second week of March.

Fortunately for the Yellow Jackets and Fighting Irish, each side has six games remaining to try and turn things around.

Georgia Tech is coming off a pair of losses to Stanford and Wake Forest by a combined 39 points. For third-year head coach Damon Stoudamire and company, the clock is ticking, and a win on Saturday is desperately needed.

“First and foremost, we need to win. I think that we all understand that,” Stoudamire said. “We’ve got to be better at dealing with adversity. I just don’t think that collectively we’re great at dealing with adversity. When times get tough, we don’t stick together all the time. To me, that is hurting us more than anything at the end of the day.”

Kowacie Reeves Jr. leads the struggling Yellow Jackets with 15.2 points per game, while Baye Ndongo averages 12.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per contest.

Notre Dame’s season outlook changed in December when its best player, Markus Burton, sustained a season-ending broken ankle. Since the calendar flipped to 2026, the Fighting Irish are 1-10, with the lone victory a four-point home win over Boston College.

With center Kebba Njie also out for the season with a knee injury, Notre Dame has had to rely heavily on its guard play.

“We really only have one true post player,” head coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “We play smaller and see if we can spread it out a little bit more. I feel like that’s one of the ways we can try and get more threes is to have more ball handlers, have more shooting out there, have more guys that can attack.”

Freshman Jalen Haralson paces Notre Dame with 15.5 ppg, followed by Braeden Shrewsberry’s 12.

–Field Level Media