Nice rebounding by BC
Eagles rip Miami to continue the roll
After getting trounced by 25 points against Kansas, then scoring only 51 points against Robert Morris in a humiliating home-court loss, the Boston College men's basketball team seemed to learn from the sins of its nonconference setbacks.
The Eagles have redeemed themselves by stringing together Atlantic Coast Conference triumphs over Wake Forest Saturday and over No. 21 Miami, 76-66, last night before a Conte Forum crowd of 5,127. BC (12-4) took sole possession of first place in the ACC with a 3-0 mark.
Freshman forward Rakim Sanders led the way for the Eagles, who were up by as many as 23 points in the second half, by tallying a game-high 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 3 of 5 from the 3-point arc. Tyrese Rice added 14, while Shamari Spears had 12, and Tyrelle Blair had 11 to go along with a career-high 12 rebounds as BC extended its winning streak over the Hurricanes (14-2, 1-1) to 13 games.
But coach Al Skinner was not about to let his Eagles become tipsy with their success.
Asked how he intended to guard against any hangovers, Skinner, whose Eagles next face Virginia Saturday night in Charlottesville, offered this sobering assessment: "The hangover has to come after we get about 12 or 14 [conference wins], OK? This is too early in the process to be getting drunk on this."
So forget for now that last night's victory marked BC's first over a ranked opponent since an 80-59 triumph over No. 16 Virginia Tech last Feb. 3 at Conte Forum.
"Whether they're ranked or not ranked is really not important," said Skinner, who expressed his pleasure over BC's 43 rebounds (to Miami's 40) and its 19 assists on 26 field goals. "Trying to have some success in the league is the most important thing."
Asked what adjustments the Eagles made in rebounding after the two-game swoon, Skinner said, "We've done nothing at all. The only thing we did was ask guys to play a little bit harder, and they've done that."
That was evident from the opening jump, as the Eagles seemed to carry over the momentum from the 112-73 romp over the Demon Deacons. They roared to a 20-4 lead as the Hurricanes missed 18 of their first 20 shots.
"I really think it all started on that first possession of the game," said Rice, referring to a layup by Sanders. "When you can get it to your go-to guy for a layup on the first [play], then come back and play defense, stop them, and come back for another layup, it just builds excitement."
The excitement was palpable as the Eagles led, 36-22, at the half and increased it in the second to 50-27 on Sanders's mid-range jumper with 11:32 to play.
Miami, sparked by the 3-point shooting of James Dews (15 points) and Jack McClinton (team-high 20), whittled the lead to 60-50 by going on a 17-5 run.
McClinton, who shot 6 for 26 from the field (4 of 10 from the 3-point arc), went on a personal tear, scoring the last 10 in that stretch.
BC responded by twice expanding its lead to 14 points (66-52 and 68-54), hitting 14 of its last 18 foul shots (19 of 26 overall). The 'Canes got no closer than 73-64 with 1:25 to go. 