Boston College Athletics
BC Frontcourt Ready To Run With The 'Cats
March 24, 2006 | Men's Basketball
March 21, 2006
BOSTON (AP) - After a season of banging around down low, Boston College forward Craig Smith is ready to give scrappy a try.
"Absolutely," he said with a laugh on Tuesday before Boston College practiced for its NCAA tournament matchup against Villanova's unconventional four-guard lineup. "Run around the outside - do whatever we've got to do."
No. 4 seed Boston College plays top-seeded Villanova in the semifinals of the Minneapolis Regional on Friday night, and the Wildcats' wacky four-guard lineup poses a challenge the Eagles haven't seen this season. But with forwards like Smith and Jared Dudley, coach Al Skinner has no intention of going small.
"We're always going to play our style of basketball. I'm not sure we're going to vary it a lot," he said before practice on the BC campus. "We're going to stay true to ourselves. If you don't, you're really setting yourself up for failure."
Teams playing against Villanova have had to choose between going smaller in an attempt to keep up, or sticking with their regular lineup and hoping to make the Wildcats (27-4) adjust on defense.
So far, it's worked for the Wildcats.
Despite giving up size in almost every game, the Wildcats have outrebounded the opposition by 47 this season. They handled Oklahoma's strong frontcourt, then stood up to Connecticut's size advantage when they beat the Huskies in mid-February.
In their second-round victory over Arizona on Sunday, Dante Cunningham, Will Sheridan and Shane Clark all showed Villanova's frontcourt can contribute when needed.
The 6-foot-9 Cunningham, who averaged 5.2 points entering the game, scored 16 in an 82-78 win and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds. Without the stats to show it, Clark also had an impact.
Villanova even played all three at the same time, a rare combination that could be needed again against Boston College (28-7), a former Big East foe that went to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game in its first year in its new league.
Skinner said it's nice to be somewhat familiar with an opponent after playing the regular season in unfamiliar territory, then opening the tournament against Pacific and Montana.
On the other hand, Villanova knows plenty about Smith and Dudley, too.
Smith, the first preseason All-America selection in school history, is averaging 17.7 points and 9.3 rebounds - numbers that go up to 23.5 and 14.5 in the tournament so far. Dudley has averaged almost 17 points and seven rebounds overall, giving BC one of the nation's most effective frontcourts.
So, rather than switch things around to try to match up with the Wildcats, BC will try to take advantage of its size at the other end.
"Who's going to guard Craig and Dudley?" freshman Tyrese Rice said.
BC guard Louis Hinnant said he didn't have any special pointers for Dudley and Smith if they come out from the paint.
"They'd better be ready," he said. "But it's going to have to be a collective effort."
