Boston College
West Virginia*
No. 5 Men's Basketball Remains Undefeated
February 01, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2005
By HOWARD ULMAN
AP Sports Writer
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (AP) - Craig Smith overpowered a collapsing defense to score 23 points and No. 5 Boston College beat West Virginia 62-50 on Tuesday night to remain one of Division I's two unbeaten teams.
The burly forward was scoreless while the Mountaineers built an 18-9 lead with 9:21 left in the first half. Then he scored 17 of the Eagles' next 24 points, giving them the lead for good, 33-32, with a layup with 16:04 remaining.
Boston College (19-0, 8-0 Big East) matched its school record 19-game winning streak set in 1968-69. It already has its highest ranking and best start ever. Only top-ranked Illinois (22-0), which beat No. 12 Michigan State 81-68 on Tuesday night, has a better record.
The Mountaineers (12-7, 2-6) have lost six of seven, including a 20-point loss at home to BC on Jan. 16. They were led by Mike Gansey and Tyrone Sally with 10 points each.
For the first time since February 2001, the Eagles played before their third consecutive capacity crowd at home. But that didn't help at the start as they forced up outside shots while West Virginia surrounded the 250-pound Smith near the basket.
The Eagles missed their first six shots and scored only on three 3-pointers in their first 12 shots. But Smith got going and so did BC's defense, which held West Virginia scoreless on its last seven shots of the half.
Trailing 23-15, Smith scored five straight points, sparking a 10-0 run that gave the Eagles a 25-23 halftime lead. West Virginia went ahead 28-25 on Gansey's 3-pointer and Johannes Herber's basket on a goaltending call.
Then Smith took control, scoring the Eagles' next eight points and giving them a 33-32 lead. They never trailed again despite their lowest-scoring game of the season. Their previous low was a 63-60 overtime win over Holy Cross on Dec. 9 .
Smith began his run with a three-point play and followed with a dunk, a free throw and a driving layup. Once his teammates found a way to feed him the ball inside, even four defenders who surrounded him on one play couldn't stop him.
West Virginia did cut the lead to 42-38 on Gansey's two free throws with 8:27 remaining, but the Eagles went on a 12-3 run that made it 54-41 with 3:10 to go. Jared Dudley, who scored 15 points, and Jermaine Watson, who had 13, each had four points in the run.
If the Eagles win their next game on Saturday night at Seton Hall, they'll become the first Big East team to start a season at 20-0.
