Eagles Start ACC Better Second Time Around
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – This time around, the start of the ACC season is a little better for Boston College.
Last season, the Eagles started off ACC play with a tough December loss at Maryland, then lost two more a month later to start off 0-3. Sunday night’s 73-62 win over Maryland puts the Eagles at 1-0 in ACC play and extends their winning streak to five games.
“It’s good to get a good start in the ACC,” said junior center Sean Williams, a key player in the victory.
The Eagles also won in good fashion, as the game didn’t seem as close as the score was at times. They led by single digits for most of the game, but you got the sense that Maryland wasn’t quite that close. The Terrapins were quite erratic most of the night at the offensive end (16 turnovers, a good number of which were unforced) and even made some bad decisions defensively. Several times, such plays helped kill mini-runs they made that could have turned into game-changing runs. And for most of the night, the Eagles were simply tougher and made plays from having the will to win. It showed in out-rebounding the Terrapins by seven and scoring 20 second-chance points.
“We need to learn some things from tonight’s game about how aggressive you have to be against a veteran team that rebounds well,” said Maryland head coach Gary Williams. “I thought early, we had to fight just to stay in there, and it shouldn’t be that way. I thought we could come out a little harder than we did.”
The other big factor for Boston College was the frontcourt, especially Sean Williams in the second half. He blocked seven shots, six coming in the second half and two coming on one play when it looked like the Terrapins had a fast break that would produce a basket. He swatted the first one from behind, then was a little away from the play right after it and reached to his right and swatted another one away to thwart the Terrapins once again. Williams had 10 points and 11 rebounds, joining Jared Dudley (20 points, 11 rebounds) in the double-double column.
Sophomore point guard Tyrese Rice didn’t have his best shooting night, as he was 5-13 from the field, but he helped them grab a lead in the first half. He also added four assists and continues to look better.
“He has to get a lot better for us to get to that next level,” Dudley said of Rice. “For us to take that next step, he and Marquez (Haynes) have to get a lot better, not only in decision-making, but basically being a leader on the court.”
Right now, the Eagles are in a better place in the ACC than they were a year ago. After a tough loss to the Terrapins in College Park, they were 0-1, then two more losses had them at 0-3 and the questions were flying. Dudley noted the similarity of that time to the questions about the team earlier this year after two straight losses, and thinks the team knows how to deal with that adversity.
“It’s good to see where we came from,” the senior forward said. “I guarantee you people were writing us off when we were 1-2, losing to Vermont and Providence. We’re going to keep working here.”
Notes
- Three Terrapins were in familiar territory on Sunday night. Williams was the head coach at Boston College before Conte Forum was built, and assistant coach Michael Adams is also an alum of the school. Senior guard Mike Jones grew up in Dorchester and played high school ball at Snowden High School, where he scored 32 points in the city championship as a true freshman, then Thayer Academy in Braintree.
- Dudley’s stat line, while it is what we’ve come to expect, is made more impressive by the fact that he didn’t practice much this past week due to a nagging left foot injury. He played all 40 minutes through it, saying it has gotten better since he landed on another player’s foot Wednesday night against Fairfield.
- Dudley surpassed Adams on BC’s all-time scoring list, moving into tenth place all-time with his 20 points. He entered the game needing 16 to tie Adams.
- James Gist quietly had a nice night for the Terrapins, scoring 17 points on 6-9 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds. He has all the tools to make this a big breakout season.
