Boston College Athletics
Boston College
Villanova
No. 16 Men's Basketball Downs Villanova, 88-81 In OT
January 09, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Jan 9, 2002
By JONATHAN POET
Associated Press Writer
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Troy Bell hit a floater in the lane with 6.5 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime and finished with 36 points as No. 16 Boston College escaped with a 88-81 victory over Villanova on Wednesday night.
Bell was 10-of-21 from the field and 13-of-14 at the free throw line. Kenny Walls added 21 points for Boston College (13-2, 2-1 Big East). He was 4-for-8 from behind the arc.
Villanova (9-3, 2-1) turned the ball over five times in overtime. All its losses this season have been in overtime.
With Villanova clinging to a 67-62 lead, BC's Ryan Sidney banked in a 3-pointer and scored on a fastbreak layup to tie the game with 2:16 to play.
With 40 seconds to go and BC down 70-69, Bell missed a long-range 3, but Uka Agbai grabbed the rebound before BC called a timeout. Out of the timeout, Brian Ross missed a wide-open 3 from the top of the arc with 22 seconds left.
Villanova made one of four free throws to extend the lead to 71-69. Bell's floater tied it at 71.
Gary Buchanan led Villanova with 22 points on 7-for-17 shooting, while Ricky Wright added 19 points.
Both teams played well at the defensive end and BC held the nation's best shooting team to 40.6 percent overall and 4-for-17 from behind the arc. Villanova outrebounded BC 52-35, but turned the ball over 19 times. The Eagles went 10-for-26 from 3-point range.
The Wildcats took a 49-42 lead on a 9-0 run early in the second half, highlighted by Derrick Snowden's dunk. Following a crowd-pleasing 3-pointer by Buchanan, Snowden stepped into a passing lane, picked off a pass from Bell and ran the floor for the slam.
BC stopped the run when Villanova coach Jay Wright drew a technical with 14:06 left for vehemently disagreeing with a traveling call. Bell knocked down both shots.
Down 23-16 with 8:44 to go in the first half, Villanova scored eight straight points, including two baseline drives by Buchanan. But Boston College took back the lead on Sidney's 3-pointer with 5:15 to go, part of a run of six consecutive 3s for the Eagles.
The Wildcats held BC scoreless for the final 3:15 of the first half and took a 36-35 lead on Marcus Austin's layup with three seconds to go.
