Boston College Athletics
Boston College
Virginia Tech*
Men's Basketball Downs Virginia Tech, 87-69
February 19, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Feb 19, 2003
By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Troy Bell scored 29 and Craig Smith added 26 points with nine rebounds Wednesday night as Boston College won for the sixth time in seven games, beating Virginia Tech 87-69.
BC (14-9, 7-5 Big East) has lost just once since beating Virginia Tech by 24 points on Jan. 29. The latest win assures the Eagles of at least a .500 record, making them eligible for the postseason.
Bryant Matthews scored 23 for Virginia Tech, but he shot just 7-for-25 as the Hokies (10-14, 3-8) fell into a tie for last in the conference's East Division - a position that would keep them out of the Big East tournament. Playing without three of their top four scorers, they lost for the sixth time in eight games and fell to 1-8 on the road.
Matthews missed his first eight shots, including three consecutive airballs as the Hokies fell behind by as many as 21 points in the first half. He was 1-for-10 from 3-point range.
BC led 12-11 before scoring the next 14 points - 10 of them by Bell - over 3:24. The Eagles led 31-17 before scoring seven in a row to take their biggest lead of the half.
Bell, who scored 33 and 34 points in wins over Providence and Miami, was Big East player of the week last week. He had 18 at the half.
Smith had 20 in the second half.
Virginia Tech was without Carlos Dixon, Terry Taylor, and Brian Chase.
