Down to the Wire
January 19, 2003 02:42 PM | General
January 19, 2003
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – West Virginia had its chances to upset Boston College, but the Eagles overcame an early 16-point first-half deficit to defeat the Mountaineers, 75-70 Sunday afternoon.
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| West Virginia guard Patrick Beilein handles the basketball in the first half of Saturday's 75-70 loss at Boston College. (AP photo) |
With Boston College coming off a nice road win at North Carolina State on Thursday night it looked like the Mountaineers might have caught the Eagles sleeping.
But BC (8-6, 1-2) went on a 10-0 run to end the half to cut West Virginia’s lead to just six, 36-30. Boston College’s veteran backcourt of Troy Bell and Ryan Sidney took advantage of the absence of Joe Herber, on the bench with his second foul, to turn up the heat on WVU’s inexperienced guards and force some key Mountaineer turnovers.
“It’s obvious right now that we’re just not there yet with maintaining our composure,” said West Virginia coach John Beilein. “It’s a matter of these little runs that are five-minute runs or 10-point runs that we just do not have the experience to stop.”
In the second half, Boston College kept up the pressure and finally took its first lead of the game at 15:41 on a layup by Craig Smith.
“I didn’t particularly like our defense the first five minutes of the second half,” said Beilein. “I didn’t think we came out with the toughness that you need to have.”
Like Georgetown’s Mike Sweetney and Pitt’s Ontario Lett, the 6-foot-7, 265-pound Smith had his way inside against West Virginia’s thin front line. During one six-minute stretch late in the game, Smith scored 11 straight points for the Eagles on dunks and layups. He also hit his first career three-point basket to give Boston College a nine-point lead at 61-52.
Smith finished the game with a career-high 30 points on 13 of 20 shooting.
Despite its inability to guard Smith, West Virginia fought back and a Schifino driving layup with 52.6 seconds left cut Boston College’s lead to just four at 69-65.
The Mountaineers had a chance to trim the deficit to two after a missed free throw by Louis Hinnant, but Schifino’s twisting layup attempt was off the mark wich could have but the Eagle lead to just two.
Smith and Bell made four straight free throws to give Boston College a big enough cushion to come away with a five-point win.
Schifino scored 24 points to lead West Virginia, but he had trouble finding his shooting touch Sunday. The guard made just 10 of 26 field goal attempts for 38.4 percent.
Backup forward Chaz Briggs scored 13 points on six of six shooting off the bench, while Kevin Pittsnogle added 12, though nine of those came in the first half.
Sidney added 18 and Bell contributed 13 for BC, which got 61 of its 75 points from the big three of Smith, Bell and Sidney.
Seven-foot center Nate Doornekamp, averaging just two points per game coming into the contest, scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds.
Boston College made 29 of 59 field goal attempts for 49.2 percent while West Virginia hit just 30 of 69 for 43.5 percent. The Mountaineers were cold from behind the three-point line, hitting just six of 24 for 25 percent.
“We had some pretty good open looks and if we go nine for 24 from three we win the game,” said Beilein. “We are what we are and we’ll learn from the tape.”
Dating back to the 2000-01 season, the Mountaineers have now lost 11 straight Big East road games. WVU has also lost 13 straight road games and is 0-5 this season on the opposing team’s home floor.
West Virginia’s last road win came at Tennessee on Dec. 22, 2001.
Despite the loss, Beilein is pleased with his team’s effort, particularly at the end of the game. “That last time on the back board we’re down by six and there is only 20 seconds to go. We got like four or five rebounds in a row. The effort is there and we are getting better but not quite enough to beat a solid team like this on the road,” Beilein said.
The loss is WVU’s third straight in league play and drops the Mountaineers’ record to 9-6, 1-3.
West Virginia steps outside of Big East play to face Marshall in Charleston on Wednesday, Jan. 22, for an 8 p.m. game at the Charleston Civic Center.
The Mountaineers resume Big East action on Super Bowl Sunday against Rutgers at the Coliseum for a very important 3 p.m. Big East contest.
The Scarlet Knights are 0-3 in conference play after Saturday’s 110-89 home loss to Villanova and is a game behind West Virginia in the Big East West standings. Rutgers is at Georgetown on Monday.
