Boston College Athletics
Men's Basketball to Host Vermont
November 22, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 23, 1999
TUESDAY'S GAME: Boston College hosts Vermont in a non-league contest at Conte Forum. Vermont will be the second America East team the Eagles have faced this season. BC opened the season against New Hampshire on Nov. 20.
THE SEASON OPENER: Sophomore swingman Kenny Walls came off the bench to score 18 points to lead Boston College to an 89-65 win over New Hampshire on Nov. 20. The game marked BC's 25th season-opening win in the last 26 years. Joining Walls in double figures for the Eagles were junior Xavier Singletary (16 points), freshman Troy Bell (12), junior Jonathan Beerbohm (11) and freshman Uka Agbai (10) ... BC led 47-34 at halftime, and shot 53.6 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes to secure the victory ... BC made 19 steals, including 14 in the first half, and forced 26 turnovers ... The Eagles outrebounded UNH, 46-35.
Steals: BC registered 19 steals in the season-opening victory over New Hampshire, the most steals by a BC team since making 20 steals against Holy Cross on Nov. 27, 1995. Xavier Singletary led the Eagles with six steals (the most since Dwayne Pina recorded six steals against Holy Cross on Dec. 19, 1998).
HOME RECORD: Now in their 12th season in Conte Forum, the Eagles have a 98-63 all-time record in its current home ... Last year, BC had a 5-9 home record, marking only the third season it had lost more home games than it had won.
SCORING: The 89 points Boston College scored in its season opener against New Hampshire marked the most points by the Eagles in a 40-minute game since a Jan. 7, 1997 win at Syracuse (94-83) ... BC defeated Seton Hall, 97-87, in overtime in the first round of the 1998 BIG EAST Tournament in Madison Square Garden on March 4, 1998 (but scored 16 of its points in the overtime session).
THE SERIES AGAINST VERMONT: Boston College has a 2-2 all-time record against the Catamounts. The two teams last met on Jan. 7, 1981, with Boston College defeating UVM, 65-56, in Burlington, Vt. John Bagley led BC in the victory, registering 20 points and seven rebounds ... Vermont gained its two victories in the series' first two meetings (1923-24 and 1924-25 seasons). BC won the third meeting, 126-89, during the 1978-79 season.
WHO'S BACK?: Boston College returns eight lettermen, including all five starters, from the 1998-99 season ... The 1999-2000 roster features two seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and five freshmen. One of the seniors, guard Dwayne Pina, has two years of eligibility remaining. One of the juniors, guard Xavier Singletary, is actually a newcomer. Singletary played two seasons at Howard University, before transferring to BC and sitting out last season.
1998-1999 RECAP: The 1998-99 Eagles finished with a 6-21 record, including a 3-15 BIG EAST mark.
GOOD NUMBERS: The Eagles return 81.4 percent of their scoring production from last season, including each of their top four scorers ... BC's returning players also accounted for 85.7 percent of last season's individual rebounding total.
ON THE PERIMETER: Boston College was an effective team on the perimeter last winter. The Eagles shot 33.5 percent from three-point range, ranking fifth among the BIG EAST's 13 teams ... BC was also effective in defending opposing teams' three-point attacks. The Eagles ranked third in the league in three-point field goal defense ... In 18 conference games, Kenny Harley ranked third among league leaders in three-point field goal percentage (.437), while Kenny Walls ranked 14th in the same category (.370).
67th SEASON: The 1999-2000 season marks the 67th season of varsity play for Boston College. The Eagles have an 861-701 (.551) overall record.
THE COACHES
THE HEAD COACH: Al Skinner is in his third season as the Eagles' head coach. Skinner assumed the head coaching duties at Boston College on April 17, 1997. A 1974 graduate of the University of Massachusetts, he starred on the Minutemen's basketball team. He finished his collegiate career with 1,252 points. A team captain as a senior, he has subsequently been elected to the University's Athletic Hall of Fame. Following his collegiate career, Skinner played professional basketball for six years -- with the New York Nets (ABA and NBA), Detroit Pistons (NBA), Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) and Joventut (Barcelona, Spain) ... He has a 22-37 record in two-plus seasons at the Heights. Prior to coming to BC, he enjoyed nine successful years at the University of Rhode Island. In his tenure at URI, Skinner had a 138-126 record, leading the Rams to two NCAA Tournament (1992-93 and 1996-97) and two NIT (1991-92 and 1995-96) bids ... Skinner has a career record of 160-163.
vs. Vermont: Now in his 12th season as a collegiate head coach, Al Skinner has never faced the Catamounts.
THE ASSISTANT COACHES: Skinner is joined on the BC bench by associate head coach Tim O'Shea, assistant coaches Bill Coen and Ed Cooley, and administrative assistant Pat Duquette. Three of the four -- Coen, Cooley and former BC star guard O'Shea ('84) -- came with Skinner from Rhode Island, while Duquette came to BC from St. Michael?s College.
PLAYER NOTES
#00 UKA AGBAI: The freshman forward recorded 10 points and four rebounds in his Boston College debut -- against New Hampshire (Nov. 20) ... Agbai came to Boston College from New York City's Archbishop Molloy High School, where he played for legendary head coach Jack Curran.
#2 TROY BELL: The freshman guard registered 12 points and three rebounds against New Hampshire (Nov. 20). Bell was a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line ... He led BC in scoring in each of the two exhibition games. He scored 22 points in the win over the BABC All-Stars, and 20 points in the overtime win over the Upstate New York All-Stars.
#3 MICHAEL COTTON: The senior swingman averaged 10.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last winter ... He scored in double figures in 13 games, including four games with 20 or more points.
#4 JONATHAN BEERBOHM: The junior forward played a productive 15 minutes in the season opener against New Hampshire, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals ... He averaged 5.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in 27 games last winter. He led the Eagles in blocked shots with 28.
#5 DWAYNE PINA: The senior guard tallied five points (all free throws), two rebounds, two assists and three steals in 19 minutes against New Hampshire (Nov. 20) ... He averaged 4.3 points and 4.3 assists in a team-high 30.0 minutes per game last winter. He played in and started all 27 games ... Pina, who begins the 1999-2000 season with two seasons of eligibility remaining, joined the team as a walk-on prior to the 1997-98 season, but quickly earned a scholarship.
#13 KENNY HARLEY: The junior guard, the Eagles' top returning scorer, recorded four points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 24 minutes in the season opener against New Hampshire (Nov. 20) ... Last winter, he averaged 11.2 points per game. He also led the 1998-99 Eagles in both three-point field-goal percentage (41.6 percent) and free throw percentage (75.6 percent).
#21 KENNY WALLS: The sophomore swingman scored a team-high 18 points in the Eagles' season opener against New Hampshire (Nov. 20). The game marked the fourth time in 28 collegiate games that Walls registered at least 18 points ... Last winter, he played in all 27 games, averaging 10.5 points per game ... Walls, the Eagles' "sixth man", came off the bench for 17 games last year, before starting the season's final 10 contests.
#23 XAVIER SINGLETARY: The junior guard made his Boston College (regular-season) debut against New Hampshire (Nov. 20). He finished with 16 points and three rebounds in 30 minutes ... Singletary played his first two collegiate seasons at Howard, before transferring to Boston College and sitting out the 1998-99 season ... At Howard, he scored 933 points in two seasons (50 games). As a sophomore, he ranked ninth among the nation's Division I scoring leaders with a 22.3 ppg average.
#31 OSEI MILLAR: The sophomore forward gave a solid effort in the season opener against New Hampshire (Nov. 20). Millar recorded eight points, four rebounds and three steals in 15 minutes ... He averaged 2.2 points and 1.3 rebounds in 10.5 minutes per game last winter.
#32 ANDREW DUDLEY: The freshman forward/center grabbed one rebound in three minutes of action in the Eagles' season opener against New Hampshire (Nov. 20) ... Dudley averaged 17.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per game at Life Center (N.J.) Academy last winter.
#45 BRIAN ROSS: The sophomore forward contributed five points and six rebounds in 23 minutes in the season-opening win over New Hampshire (Nov. 20) ... He averaged 8.5 points and a team-high 4.9 rebounds per game last winter. He shot a team-high 46.5 percent from the field.
THE EXHIBITION GAMES
EXHIBITION #1: Two newcomers -- junior guard Xavier Singletary and freshman guard Troy Bell -- combined for 46 points to lead BC to a 109-93 victory over the BABC All-Stars on Nov. 8. Singletary scored a team-high 24 points, while Bell netted 22 points. Junior guard Kenny Harley added 20 points for the Eagles ... BC led 45-41 at halftime, but began the second half with a 16-4 run to take a commanding 61-45 lead with 17:08 remaining.
EXHIBITION #2: Freshman guard Troy Bell scored 20 points and sophomore forward Brian Ross netted 15 points to lead BC to an 87-86 overtime win over the Upstate New York All-Stars on Nov. 15. Joining Bell and Ross in double figures for the Eagles were junior guard Xavier Singletary (13 points), sophomore swingman Kenny Walls (12) and junior forward Jonathan Beerbohm (10) ... BC committed just 12 turnovers, while forcing 18 from the visitors.
MEDIA NOTES
ON RADIO: Boston College basketball games can be heard on SportsRadio 850 WEEI (AM), Boston's 50-thousand watt all-sports radio station. Ted Sarandis is in his fifth season as the voice of the basketball Eagles. The 1999-2000 campaign marks his 23rd season describing the bouncing ball. He holds the unique distinction of having called play-by-play for all four Division I institutions in Boston -- Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern -- as well as Holy Cross. In addition, the Boston native is host of the popular ?Ted Nation? talk show, heard weeknights from 7 p.m.-midnight on SportsRadio 850 WEEI. Joining Sarandis is Bill Newell. Newell is in his third season with the basketball Eagles. He previously spent four seasons calling the action for the Boston College hockey team. Newell has also served as the play-by-play voice of Harvard football ... Boston College basketball can also be heard on WZBC-FM (90.3).
ON THE WEB: All Boston College basketball games can also be heard on the Internet at www.bceagles.com.
UP NEXT: The Eagles return to action at Penn State on Saturday, November 27. Game time is 2 p.m. in PSU's Bryce Jordan Center.
