BC's perfectly difficult test

Now the Boston College men's basketball team will face a huge test. The undefeated and unranked Eagles (6-0) square off against 12th-ranked Saint Joseph's (5-0) in a nonconference clash of Big East and Atlantic 10 unbeatens in a 4 p.m. matinee today at The Palestra in Philadelphia.

"I'm ready for that," said 6-foot-7-inch sophomore forward Craig Smith, who along with 6-8 senior forward Uka Agbai will oppose the Hawks' frontcourt tandem of 6-11 sophomore center Dwayne Jones and 6-7 junior forward John Bryant.

"It's going to be an all-out battle," Smith said. "They've got great guards. Jameer Nelson is one of the best guards in the country. The other guy, Delonte West, he's a great player. So I expect they're going to play zone, too."

The Eagles faced a 2-3 zone in their 76-75 overtime triumph against the University of Massachusetts last Saturday afternoon at Conte Forum. BC got great perimeter scoring from freshman forward Sean Marshall, who had a career-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting (5 of 11 from 3-point range) to soften the Minutemen's zone defense.

Marshall led four Eagles in double figures against UMass. Smith chipped in 19 points, 11 rebounds, and two very huge free throws that gave BC the lead with 14.6 seconds left in OT. Sophomore guard Louis Hinnant had 11 points, 6 assists (to 3 turnovers) and 3 rebounds despite playing with a hairline fracture and a torn ligament in his left wrist. Agbai had 10 points, leaving him 16 shy of becoming the 30th BC player to score 1,000.

Freshman forward Jared Dudley added 8 points but factored large on the glass with a career-high 12 rebounds. Overall, BC outrebounded the Minutemen, 42-31.

The Hawks, said BC coach Al Skinner, "are going to present us with different problems."

Saint Joseph's is coming off a 67-59 victory over Penn in the Big 5 Classic Saturday. Nelson, who was named Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week for the third time in a row, scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half as the Hawks held off a late rally by the Quakers.

Last year, Nelson led the Hawks to an 85-58 drubbing of the Eagles in their season opener at Conte Forum. Saint Joseph's blitzed BC from the perimeter in storming to a 22-4 lead, hitting 12 of 23 3-point attempts overall. Nelson, a preaseason Player of the Year candidate, had 22 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. He also combined with backcourt mate Tyrone Barley to put the defensive clamps on BC star Troy Bell, who went 2 for 14 from the field.

"The game is on our minds, but it is just a regular game," said Smith. "Everybody just has to bring their `A' game, because I know I will."

Back to work Boston University (2-3), which capped a grueling stretch of three games in five days with a 67-64 double-overtime victory at Ohio last Wednesday, resumes action tonight by hosting winless Harvard (0-5) at 7. The Terriers stumbled out of the blocks with losses to Holy Cross, Saint Joseph's, and BC, but junior forward Rashad Bell led them to their first two wins of the season last week. He had 19 points and 5 rebounds in an 82-61 victory over Youngstown State Dec. 1, and, 48 hours later, scored 8 of his game-high 23 points in OT at Athens, Ohio . . . UMass senior guard Anthony Anderson of Lynn shared A-10 Player of the Week honors with Nelson after scoring a team-high 20 points in a losing cause at BC . . . The Northeastern Huskies, who suffered an 80-59 loss at Fordham Sunday in a snow-delayed game, got some good news when sophomore guard Jose Juan Barea underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. It was feared he could be lost for the season, but Barea will be out only four weeks. He initially suffered the injury in a season-opening loss at Rhode Island Nov. 21, then came back to score 19 points in a victory at West Virginia Nov. 29. He aggravated the injury last week in practice.