Boston College Keeps Momentum Going as the Blue Devils Beckon
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Suddenly, Wednesday night’s game at The Heights has real meaning once again.
When Boston College started out 0-3 in the ACC, no one figured that the Eagles’ lone meeting with Duke would mean much. The Eagles were going to have enough trouble getting to .500 in conference play, let alone contending as most figured they would before the season. But now the Eagles have caught fire, winning five straight, including three on the road. Wednesday night’s game isn’t a first place showdown – the Eagles are in a three-way tie for fourth place after Tuesday – but it has regained a good deal of the luster it lost when the Eagles started off on the wrong foot.
The Eagles grinded out a 66-64 win over a tough Georgia Tech team on Sunday night, bouncing back from a tough loss in Atlanta earlier in the month. They broke the game open early in the second half with a 12-4 run that put them up 44-32, and had to withstand a furious 13-2 run that followed. They never gave up the lead, and in the final three minutes, they iced the game by making 10 of 12 free throws to conclude a 26-32 showing at the charity stripe.
As has been the case of late, senior Craig Smith led the charge. Smith has been playing like an All-American since the Eagles 0-3 start, posting double-doubles in all but one game during the five-game winning streak and generally playing like a man possessed.
“He’s taken some responsibility for the success of this team,” head coach Al Skinner said of his senior forward.
Smith had 25 points and 13 rebounds, giving him averages of 21.2 points and 12.6 rebounds per game in the winning streak, and he’s now averaging a double-double in ACC play. Those games have come just as junior Sean Marshall, whose 14 points on Sunday included a highlight-film dunk on a fast break, had slowed up, and Sunday’s effort was needed more with Jared Dudley held to single digits (nine points) for the first time this season.
“He’s turned into such a great leader this year for us,” Marshall said of Smith. “He’s just been more of a leader and is taking over games now.”
The Eagles haven’t arrived yet, but they now look more and more like the team many projected as the second-best team in the ACC in the preseason. They are playing like a team that finds a way to win games, and now that they’re above .500 in ACC play for the first time, are ready to keep that going.
“We’re just trying to get our heads above water,” said Skinner. “We put ourselves in a hole, and we’re trying to work our way out of that. It’s a slow process, but we’re getting there.”
It doesn’t help that Sean Williams remains a relative non-factor, while John Oates also hasn’t duplicated his efforts in non-conference play. It leaves Smith and Dudley to have to make more plays, as well as McLain when he is out there. But with the way Smith has been playing, the way Dudley finds a way to make things happen, and the improvement of McLain, the frontcourt as a whole isn’t in bad shape.
Wednesday night could give the Eagles’ current run another big boost. While they haven’t arrived yet, a win would certainly move them a little closer to that point.
What to do Wednesday night
The question was asked several times after Sunday night’s game: how do the Eagles guard J.J. Redick, Duke’s super shooter? Who gets that assignment?
In fact, no one does, in all likelihood. And that doesn’t mean the Eagles plan to go with a zone.
The Eagles’ personnel gives them an option that may not be so viable for a lot of teams. Dudley explained how the Eagles play what’s basically a “man-zone”, which is their own hybrid version of a zone defense. With the interchangeable parts they have, don’t be surprised if they do a lot of switching as Redick runs off screens. They will be better equipped to do that, since they would be less likely to wind up with a serious mismatch resulting from it.
If Boston College opts to go with a straight man-to-man, they have options. Louis Hinnant matches Redick’s size, while Sean Marshall is taller and is more athletic. They might use that for stretches, but a good guess is that they go with a constant switching defense and use their personnel to their advantage. In light of that, Akida McLain would probably figure to play a few more minutes than on Sunday (just five) since he’s another athletic player who could switch out on Redick.
