Boston College Athletics
Men's Basketball Falls to Top-Ranked Connecticut
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
January 6, 1999
By HOWARD ULMAN
AP Sports Writer
BOSTON (AP) - Richard Hamilton scored a career-high 39 points as top-ranked Connecticut marked Jim Calhoun's 400th game as its coach with its 20th straight win over Boston College, 91-78 Wednesday night.
Connecticut, which scored the first 12 points of the game, led 48-39 at halftime then pulled away with a 14-4 run over the first four minutes of the second half to take a 62-43 lead. It reached a high of 21 points, 85-64, with 3:57 left.
The Huskies (12-0, 4-0 Big East) got 15 points from Khalid El-Amin and 13 from Edmund Saunders. Hamilton went 14-of-19 from the field and made all five of his 3-pointers, including two in the opening 12-0 run.
Boston College (3-9, 0-4) was led by Michael Cotton with a career-high 23 points, while Kenny Walls added 15.
Hamilton, the reigning Big East player of the year and a preseason All-America, surpassed his previous high of 38 points set in the same building last Jan. 11 when the Huskies overcame a seven-point deficit five minutes into the second half and won 80-68. The last time the Eagles beat the Huskies was Feb. 23, 1988 at Boston Garden.
Calhoun improved his record at Connecticut to 282-118 after going 250-137 at Northeastern and is the only coach in Division I history with 250 wins at two schools.
Boston College, with nine freshmen and sophomores and no seniors, was surprisingly competitive. It actually outscored Connecticut 39-36 over the last 17 minutes of the first half. The Eagles, trailing 44-29, finished the half with a 10-4 spurt in which Cotton had six points.
But the Huskies got the first eight points of the second half on a 3-pointer and a running layup by El-Amin, and a three-point play by Hamilton, making the score 56-39.
With the score 62-43, Boston College chipped away with seven consecutive points, cutting the lead to 12.
The Huskies led 78-64, then went on another run as Hamilton hit a 3-pointer and a 12-footer and Ricky Moore made two free throws for an 85-64 lead.
Although the Eagles lost for the seventh time in eight games, the 13-point deficit was far below the Huskies' average victory margin of 26.1. In its previous three games, against Fairfield, Villanova and Georgetown, Connecticut won by 35, 24 and 23 points.
