Boston College Athletics
Boston College
St Johns
Eagles Fall To St. John's, 71-62
February 18, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Feb 18, 2002
By JIM O'CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK - Marcus Hatten scored 31 points and St. John's, despite not having a field goal over the final 7:50, held off Boston College for a 71-62 victory Monday night.
The win, the Red Storm's fifth in six games, gave St. John's (18-8, 8-6 Big East) a season sweep of the Eagles and was its ninth in the last 10 games against Boston College.
Troy Bell had 22 points for the Eagles (17-9, 6-7), who had won two of their last three after losing six of eight.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Hatten - the first from NBA range as the shot clock reached 1 second - gave the Red Storm a 43-25 lead with 16:20 to play.
Boston College, behind Uka Agbai, who scored all of his 14 points in the second half, got within 63-57 on a 3-pointer by Bell with 2:20 left, but got no closer as the Red Storm went 8-for-12 from the free-throw line to close the game at Madison Square Garden.
Willie Shaw's driving jumper with 7:51 to play was the last field goal for St. John's, but 15 free throws the rest of the way were enough to hold off the Eagles.
St. John's finished 26-for-42 from the free-throw line, while the Eagles were 13-for-15.
Hatten was 9-of-17 from the field, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range, and had five rebounds, three assists and four steals. The third steal was his 85th of the season, breaking Erick Barkley's school record for a season set in 1998-99.
Anthony Glover added 10 points for St. John's, which closes the regular season with road games against No. 3 Duke and Villanova around a home game with Notre Dame.
Boston College, the defending Big East regular season and tournament champions, has home games left with Villanova, Connecticut and Syracuse.
St. John's used a 13-2 run to take a 30-14 with 3:33 left in the first half and was ahead 35-22 at halftime.
Boston College shot 25 percent in the first half (8-for-32) and finished 22-for-63 (34.9 percent).
Bell was 7-for-19 from the field and Ryan Sidney, who came in averaging 14.8 points, was held to four on 2-for-12 shooting.
St. John's beat the Eagles 64-57 on Jan. 17.
