Boston College
Notre Dame*
Men's Basketball Defeats Notre Dame, 76-69
February 04, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Feb 4, 2004
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (AP) - Jermaine Watson scored 16 of his career-high 22 points over the final 9:38 to spark Boston College to a 76-69 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday night.
Craig Smith scored 20 points to become the 31st player in BC basketball history to score 1,000 career points. Smith reached the milestone with a field goal with 6:39 remaining in the contest.
Chris Quinn scored a career-high 25 points for Notre Dame (10-8, 4-4). Chris Thomas, the Fighting Irish's leading scorer at 17.6 points per game, was held to 11 points on 3 for 18 shooting.
Jared Dudley added 14 points for the Eagles.
BC, which led by five at the half, opened a 41-31 lead on Sean Marshall's basket 3:02 into the second half.
The Irish closed the gap to three points three times over the next 10 minutes. Boston College then pushed its lead to 63-54 on Jared Dudley's put-back with 5:07 to go.
Notre Dame answered with a 9-2 run and had a chance to tie it when Torin Francis went to the line for two free throws with 2:04 left. Francis missed both and Watson's three-point play gave the Eagles a 68-63 edge with 1:07 left.
Thomas' basket with 48 seconds left cut it to 68-65, but Smith sank two free throws and Watson added another to make it 71-65.
Notre Dame closed it to 72-69 on Thomas' basket with 14.9 seconds left, but Watson and Dudley each made a pair of free throws to seal it.
The Eagles scored eight of the last nine points in the first half to take a 33-28 lead into halftime.
Game Notes: Boston College raised its record to 14-7 overall, 3-5 in BIG EAST action ... The Eagles return to action against St. John's in Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Feb. 8 at noon ... Watson's 22-point effort marked a career high. His previous single-game high was 18 points, set against Fairfield in the 2003 NIT ... BC gained a decisive 42-31 rebounding edge ... Boston College shot 48.1 percent from the field, including 50.0 percent (11-for-22) in the second half ... While Watson and Smith captured the headlines with their scoring efforts, freshman Jared Dudley continued to fill the stat sheet in a positive way. In addition to his scoring output, the San Diego resident added seven rebounds and seven assists in 36 minutes. Dudley's seven assists matched his career high, set one game earlier against Connecticut ... Senior Uka Agbai enjoyed a solid seven-point, eight-rebound night. He grabbed six of his rebounds in the second half ... The Eagles' passing skills were evident once again as the team finished with 17 assists on 26 field goals.
