Eagles taken down

NEW YORK -- It had the makings of a New York back-alley brawl: Boston College vs. Michigan State in the nightcap of the Jimmy V Classic last night at Madison Square Garden.

Trailing by 13 with 8:32 to go, the sixth-ranked Eagles fought back to close within 2 on Sean Marshall's 3-pointer with 1:22 to go. But the 14th-ranked Spartans held on to win, 77-70, and hand the Eagles' their first loss of the season -- in their old Big East stomping grounds.

Jared Dudley led BC (6-1) with 23 points, 20 in the second half, while Craig Smith had 18 points and Marshall chipped in 16.

Maurice Ager led the Spartans (6-2) with 23 points as well, scoring 18 in the second half, while Paul Davis added 18 and Drew Neitzel 11.

BC, which climbed two spots in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls, struggled from the outset, missing its first four attempts while the Spartans surged to a 9-1 lead.

The Eagles settled down and responded with an 11-0 run over the next 2:31.

Smith hit the first of two foul shots to give BC its first lead, 10-9, before Dudley scored on a putback to cap the run. Michigan State, meanwhile, missed four field goal attempts and committed a turnover during that stretch before Marquise Gray snapped a 4:01 scoreless skein with a layup.

Nietzel gave the Spartans a 13-12 lead with a lane floater. BC's student section was credited for forcing Michigan State's next miss when it began an early countdown of the shot clock, fooling Matt Trannon into hoisting a desperate baseline jumper that hit the side of the backboard.

The Eagles, who went almost six minutes without a point, finally snapped out of their trance when Smith converted a crisp entry pass from Marquez Haynes for 14-13 lead.

Smith went to the line and made both for a 25-23 lead. Dudley then gave the Eagles a 27-23 lead on a strong second-chance putback with 1:47 to go.

That enabled the Eagles, who outrebounded Michigan State, 24-14, in the first half, to withstand a 3-point play by Shannon Brown to control a 27-26 lead at intermission.

The second half began in frenetic fashion, with the teams exchanging the lead seven times in the first 4 1/2 minutes before Gray's foul-inducing dunk gave Michigan State a 39-37 lead.

Marshall's third personal put Ager on the line but Ager missed the foul shot as Michigan State controlled a 41-37 lead. Smith answered with a jump hook off an offensive rebound to pull BC within 41-39, but the Spartans pulled away with a 10-2 run to build a 51-41 lead.

The Spartans thrice led by 13 (54-41, 57-44, and 59-46). Dudley had a chance to cut it to 9 when he knocked down a foul-inducing trey that sent Brown to the bench with four personals. But Dudley missed the foul shot and Smith missed an ill-advised offensive putback in heavy lane traffic.

The Eagles, who had overcome a 13-point deficit in the championship game of the Las Vegas Holiday Invitational Nov. 26, mounted another such rally, cutting a 59-46 Spartan lead to 67-61 with a 15-8 run that was sparked by Dudley's 9-point contribution.

The Spartans opened it up to 69-61, before the BC went on a 7-point tear to pull within 2 on Marshall's 3-point burial with 1:22 to go. The Eagles, who gave away 5 points at the foul line in the second half, never got any closer as they absorbed their first loss of the season.

The Eagles were making their first appearance in the Jimmy V Classic and couldn't make it a clean sweep for the Jesuits. Saint Joseph's rallied from a 17-3 first-half deficit to score a 70-67 victory over Kansas in the first game of the doubleheader, proceeds of which benefit The V Foundation, started in honor of the former North Carolina State coach who died of cancer.