Eagles get to work

MILWAUKEE -- They didn't come here to sample the microbrews at the hofbraus. Or to feast on the mouth-watering German Sampler (weiner schnitzel, rheinischer sauerbraten, potato dumpling, sauerkraut and red cabbage) at Mader's Restaurant. Or to visit the Frozen Tundra in Green Bay for a tour of Lambeau Field.

The Boston College men's basketball team had no such events planned for its field trip to the NCAA Tournament.

"We didn't come here to sightsee in Wisconsin," senior forward Uka Agbai told his teammates in a meeting on the eve of yesterday's game against 11th-seeded Utah. "We're here for business."

And the BC captain meant business, too.

That much was evident in the way the sixth-seeded Eagles (24-9) of the Big East arrived at the Bradley Center and handled business in scoring a 58-51 victory over the Mountain West champion Utes (24-9) in the first round of the St. Louis Regional (formerly the Midwest). The victory was BC's record 90th over the last four seasons and enabled the Eagles to advance to the second round against No. 3 seed Georgia Tech, which staved off upset-minded Northern Iowa, 65-60, to set up a match between future Atlantic Coast Conference opponents.

"I treat everything businesslike and I want everyone else to do [so] as well," said Agbai (10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot). "We're here to play basketball. We're not going to die if we lose, but it is the biggest show. We're going to bring it all to the table."

Despite being plagued by four fouls, sophomore power forward Craig Smith gave the Eagles a game-high 19 points (on 8-for-12 shooting) and eight rebounds, scoring a crucial basket on a third-chance putback to make it 54-51 with 1:23 left.

"I tried to establish myself, especially with my quickness," said Smith, whose only opposition was 6-foot-10-inch freshman Andrew Bogut (team highs of 16 points and 8 rebounds). "I felt I could beat them off the dribble and get to the basket."

The key to yesterday's triumph, however, was the defensive job BC freshman swingman Sean Marshall and junior guard Jermaine Watson did against Utah senior shooting guard Nick Jacobson, who was held below his average (16.8) after he went scoreless in an 0-for-10 first half that included six misfires from the arc, all of which exacerbated Utah's woeful 38 percent shooting overall (19 for 50).

After the Eagles took a 29-20 halftime lead and stretched it to 12 points (36-24), Jacobson, who finished with 8 points after going 3 for 18 (2 for 13 on treys), heated up in the second half to pull the Utes within 39-32 by going on an 8-point spree, hitting back-to-back treys.

Utah tied it twice in the final 5:20 (at 47-47 and 49-all), but the Eagles never wavered, getting a huge 3-point play from Watson with 3:27 remaining to wrest the lead for good, 52-49.

But it was BC's defense that was the cornerstone of its first NCAA victory since a 68-65 victory over No. 14 seed Southern Utah in the first round of the 2001 NCAA East Regional in Uniondale, N.Y.

"I think we're really more comfortable on defense," said Watson, noting the improvement of BC's perimeter defense, which has held its last five opponents to 38.2 percent shooting (102 for 267) and 15.3 percent from 3-point range (15 of 98). "We know what we're looking to do when we get out there. Sean also did a great job on [Jacobson]. We knew he was going to look to shoot the ball and our assignment was to basically make him shoot tough shots."

BC made Jacobson's last touch so difficult he was forced to give up the shot.

After giving the Eagles some breathing room with his putback, Smith opened the door for the Utes when he went to the line for a one-and-one with 46.7 seconds left and missed his first attempt. The Utes controlled the rebound, got the ball across midcourt, and called time out with 28.1 seconds left (16 on the shot clock) to diagram a 3-point play for Jacobson.

"We have had problems at times all year when people really pressure us," said Utah interim coach Kerry Rupp, who designed a play for Jacobson on a similar inbounds screen that resulted in a winning 3-pointer in the Utes' 73-70 victory over Nevada-Las Vegas in the Mountain West Conference championship game last Saturday. "They had good ball pressure on us the whole night."

Jacobson spotted up in the corner to receive the pass. With Watson riding his hip, Jacobson curled around a screen from Bogut, but lost the handoff from his Aussie big man, forcing Jacobson to give up the ball. The Utes never got off a shot when the shot clock expired.

When the game ended, the Eagles remained businesslike in their subdued celebration.

Asked why BC showed little emotion after its victory, Agbai said, "That's because we feel like we belong here. We're not going to act like little kids anymore. We're going to be mature, even with the younger guys, because it's business first."