Boston College Athletics
Wisconsin-Milwaukee-Boston College AP Preview
March 19, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 18, 2005
GAME: No. 12 Wisconsin-Milwaukee (25-5) vs. No. 4 Boston College (25-4).
REGIONAL: Chicago, second round.
TIME: Saturday, 5:30 p.m. EST.
SITE: Wolstein Center, Cleveland.
One of Bruce Pearl's more memorable trips to the NCAA tournament sidelines was with Boston College. His latest is against it.
Another big difference this time - he'll be dressed as a human.
A one-time mascot for the Eagles, Pearl tries to lead 12th-seeded Wisconsin-Milwaukee to a second consecutive upset victory, this time against his alma mater and the No. 4 seed in the Chicago Regional.
A Beantown native who graduated from Boston College in 1982, Pearl failed to make the Eagles' basketball team as a walk-on and filled in as the mascot for one NCAA tournament game in 1981. He didn't bother to tell his players or even his 17-year-old son about it until this week.
"I don't blame a guy for not slipping in that he was a mascot," Panthers junior Adrian Tigert said, chuckling. "We had some fun with it. He was a good sport about it."
Dressing up like an Eagle was one of many things Pearl did to support the basketball program he has long been fond of.
"I spent an awful lot of years knocking on doors, selling tickets, trying to get the faculty to go to games," he said.
Pearl has built his own very large support group in four seasons at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, having led the team to its first NCAA berth in 2003 and its first tournament victory Thursday. The Panthers pulled off the biggest surprise of the opening day, beating fifth-seeded Alabama 83-73.
Now facing his alma mater for the first time, Pearl realizes his team will have to play its best game to manage another upset.
"There was a time a month ago when they were one of the top two teams in the country," he said. "So I'm not really thrilled with the draw."
That's because in their first-round game, the Eagles played more like the team that opened 20-0 instead of the one that posted a 4-4 finish to blow their chances of getting a No. 1 seed.
Jared Dudley scored 18 points and fellow All-Big East selection Craig Smith added 15 to go with his 13 rebounds and seven assists as Boston College routed Pennsylvania 85-65.
"We were very aggressive, we made shots," Smith said. "It was kind of like how we started 20-0. I definitely feel we have our swagger back."
The Eagles held Penn to 33 percent shooting in the first half, taking a 48-28 lead. One area in which they must improve, however, is taking care of the basketball, having committed 19 turnovers.
"We've got to prove ourselves every day," said Dudley, who led five BC scorers in double figures.
One of them was Jermaine Watson, whose 13 points in 19 minutes was a very encouraging sign for coach Al Skinner. Watson, the team's top reserve, showed he can still be an effective shooter despite having stitches in his left hand due to altercation at his off-campus apartment over the weekend.
Watson, who averages 9.9 points, made both of his 3-point attempts and converted a three-point play in the first half despite having the hand heavily taped. He had missed several practices and was tentative with the hand during workouts Wednesday.
While BC has a big edge in the paint with Dudley and Smith, Wisconsin-Milwaukee may have an advantage on the perimeter with guard Ed McCants and small forward Joah Tucker. McCants and Tucker each scored 21 points Thursday as the Panthers posted the first NCAA tournament victory in school history.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee has won 10 straight and 18 of 19.
The winner of Saturday's matchup faces top-seeded Illinois or Nevada in the round of 16.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Wisconsin-Milwaukee - F Tucker (15.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg), F Tigert (9.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg), F Mark Pancratz (2.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg), G McCants (17.5 ppg, 1.4 spg), G Chris Hill (7.9 ppg, 3.1 apg). Boston College - F Smith (17.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg), F Dudley (16.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg), C Nate Doornekamp (5.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg), G Sean Marshall (11.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg), G Louis Hinnant (5.4 ppg, 4.9 apg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Wisconsin-Milwaukee - Automatic bid, Horizon League tournament champion; beat Alabama 83-73, first round. Boston College - At-large berth, Big East; beat Pennsylvania 85-65, first round.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Wisconsin-Milwaukee - 1-1, 2 years. Boston College - 19-15, 15 years.
