Boston College
North Carolina State
Men's Basketballl Defeats N.C. State, 82-65
February 14, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2008
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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (AP) - Tyrese Rice had 32 points and six assists to help Boston College snap a six-game losing streak with an 82-65 win over North Carolina State on Thursday night.
Rakim Sanders added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Eagles (13-10, 4-6 Atlantic Coast Conference). BC shot 57 percent from the floor.
J.J. Hickson paced the Wolfpack (15-9, 4-6) with 20 points and seven rebounds. Gavin Grant had 15 points and Brandon Costner 14.
BC, which led by nine at the half, saw its lead shrink to 47-42 on Costner's breakaway jam 4:15 into the second half. But the Eagles scored the next eight points to open a 13-point advantage.
Tyrelle Blair, scoreless in the opening 25 minutes, started the spree with a free throw and capped it with consecutive dunks 40 seconds apart. He finished with seven points.
The Wolfpack made one last charge, closing it to six twice, before Rice hit a soft jumper in the lane, Blair added another dunk and Sanders a short jumper to make it 67-57 with 5:04 to play.
NC State never moved closer than seven points the rest of the way.
When Rice wasn't setting up a teammate or handling any pressure defense nearly flawlessly, he was effective shooting the ball, going 12-for-18 from the floor.
Behind Rice's 11 points the Eagles jumped to a 20-11 lead 8:08 into the game. The junior point guard entered the night as conference's second-leading scorer at 19.9 per game.
BC pushed it to 33-21 on John Oates' 3 from the top with 3:05 left in the half en route to a 41-32 edge at intermission.
Game Notes: Rice equaled his career high with 32 points. The junior set a career standard with 12 field goals made. He'd previously made 10 field goals in each of four collegiate games ... Sanders' 12 rebounds also marked a career high ... BC shot 55.6 percent from the field - 54.8 percent in the first half and 56.5 percent in the second half. The Eagles have now shot 50.0 percent or better from the floor in each of the last four halves (including both halves at Duke) ... BC outrebounded the Wolfpack, 36-25 ... Freshman Biko Paris finished with four points (4-for-4 FT), two rebounds, two steals, six assists and just one turnover in 23 minutes of action. Paris is shooting an impressive 85.7 percent from the foul line in the last nine games (18-for-21) ... All five BC starters' point totals exceeded their season scoring averages - Rice (32 points; 20.5 ppg season avg.), Sanders (14 points; 12.2 ppg), Blair (7 points, 5.8 ppg), John Oates (8 points, 4.8 ppg) and Tyler Roche (7 points, 4.6 ppg).
