Gutsy players saw the enemy, and in this loss, it was them

MILWAUKEE -- This was not the best team I've seen in 40 years of Boston College basketball-watching. Or the second-best, third-best, or fourth-best.

But it could play with any of 'em.

The season is over now. BC lost a 57-54 decision to Georgia Tech at the Bradley Center in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Al Skinner's group finished 24-10, or about 14 wins more than a lot of us figured they'd get when practice convened last October. But it was at least one game fewer than Skinner & Co. thought they'd have. This team had grown into the kind of outfit that began every game expecting to win, no matter what the opponent's pedigree happened to be.

"That's why we are disappointed," Skinner said. "Not because we really are a better team than Georgia Tech, but because when we are in that position, we're winning."

You speak that way when your team has gone 4-0 in overtime games and when it has prevailed in many other games by virtue of being better defensively and just more resourceful and tough-minded than its foe. You speak that way when you continually have proven to be unfazed by second-half deficits, home or away. You speak that way when you compile a four-month resume that allows you to think you can play your game with anyone, anywhere.

In this case, Skinner was speaking after watching his team overcome a frightening enemy -- itself -- before putting itself in position to win a game against the third-seeded Yellow Jackets, a proud Atlantic Coast Conference foe with some very big-time players. Trailing by 11 points (44-33) with 16:14 remaining, and en route to having more turnovers (22) than made baskets (20), BC patiently, methodically, and efficiently worked its way back into the game until it found itself leading by a 54-53 score when Jermaine Watson, BC's Mr. Excitement, made the second of two free throws with a minute to go.

After Georgia Tech's Jarrett Jack made two go-ahead freebies at the 30.6-second mark (fairly and squarely earning his way to the line with a strong penetration down the lane), BC had a very good chance to win. After Watson missed a strong, slashing drive to the hoop, he ran down his long rebound to give BC one more chance. But freshman guard Steve Hailey was met by a helping-out 7-foot-1-inch Luke Schenscher on a subsequent move to the basket, and Jack, a former Worcester Academy teammate of Hailey and Craig Smith, intercepted Hailey's bail-out pass and took it all the way for a clinching dunk with 5.5 seconds left. Watson had a pretty good look at a tying three, but it didn't go down, and the BC season was over.

There will be immediate pain, of course. BC had not come to the NCAA Tournament in any kind of happy-to-be-here mode. It will be a disturbing video to watch. Why was BC so careless with the basketball? Why? Why? Why? Sure, there was some good Georgia Tech pressure, but was it enough to cause such problems? The answer is no. "Give Georgia Tech credit for playing aggressive defense, and they came up with the ball a lot of times," said Skinner, "but other times, we were careless. Clearly, the number of turnovers was the difference today."

And where was Smith? Why was BC's best player so astonishingly passive? Why was he so unwilling to fight through adversity (i.e. a little foul trouble)? How could he pick this game to be such a damaging no-show, at least until he reentered with 6:48 to go and favored his teammates with some of his he-man rebounding techniques, as well as his only basket of the game?

But the rest of them demonstrated the pluck that has been this team's calling card all season. Watson, for example, came off the bench to post an 11-point, 4-rebound, 4-assist, 3-steal line while providing immeasurable energy to a team that had been stung by a strong Yellow Jacket opening statement (20-9).

And then there was freshman Jared Dudley, undisputed captain of the national "Look-what-I-found" recruiting team. The 6-7 Dudley worked and worked and worked for his 13 points and 9 rebounds (five offensive) in 35 minutes of worthy service. This is a kid who was still hanging around, available to anyone, last August. He is now a kid any coach in America would find room for in his rotation.

This was a game without surprises. Georgia Tech is a team that has what CBS analyst Clark Kellogg would call "spurtability." Everyone knew one of BC's issues would be to keep the Yellow Jacket running game under control, and BC essentially did so for almost 38 minutes. But there was one blitz of three consecutive fast-break baskets early in the second half that contributed to that 11-point deficit.

But that 44-33 juncture would be Tech's pinnacle. "I thought the game was going right until about 44-33," said Tech coach Paul Hewitt. "With the frequent stops and long timeouts, it really bogged the game down. When it got to 44-33, you could really start seeing them [BC] grit their teeth. We didn't react well to their stepped-up defense. They just made the decision, `Look, Smith isn't here today; let's make sure we keep playing hard.' So give them credit. As much as we were changing [defenses] and creating a lot of turnovers, it didn't fluster them as much as I wanted to."

It came down to one minute of play and who would make the plays to win. In this regard, Hewitt was refreshingly honest. The game was won a long time ago, when a certain player said yes to him and no to other heavyweight suitors.

"You can X and O all you want," Hewitt said, "but Jarrett Jack made two huge plays down the stretch. He made the big steal, and he made the two foul shots."

But they wouldn't have been necessary had BC not insisted that the game was not over, Smith no-show or no, turnovers or no. "When we were down 11," sighed Skinner, "I don't think anyone thought we'd be leading by 1 with 30 seconds to play."

Only people who've watched this eminently lovable team play all year, Coach.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is ryan@globe.com.