Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Boston College
Boston College Holds Off Wake Forest, 72-66
2/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2006
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Freshman Tyrese Rice set season highs with 23 points and six 3-pointers and No. 17 Boston College overcame sluggish performances from its top two scorers in a 72-66 win over Wake Forest on Wednesday night.
The Eagles (18-5, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved into a tie for third in the conference with Miami with their seventh victory in eight games. It came without much help from Craig Smith and Jared Dudley, their high-scoring duo who came in averaging 17 points apiece.
Smith finished with only nine points on four shots - he did pull down 13 rebounds - while Dudley shot only 3-of-9 from the field on his way to 14 points.
Justin Gray scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half before fouling out for the Demon Deacons (12-11, 1-9), and Harvey Hale added 13 points. Wake Forest is off to its worst start in the ACC since losing its first 11 games in 1989-90.
Coach Skip Prosser tried nearly everything to change that, including a handful of defenses. There was a man-to-man, a straight zone, a trap and even a triangle-and-two, and none of them did much to contain Rice.
He bettered his previous best of 22 points that came earlier in the season in a victory over Drake, and after reaching double figures only once in the previous eight games, he came out firing. Rice was fouled on his first attempt from beyond the arc, and he calmly made all three free throws to start his binge.
Over the next 4 minutes, none of his three 3-pointers even bothered touching the rim as it went through, and the final one gave the Eagles a 21-18 lead. Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser missed it, however, turning his head in disgust as soon as he saw an open Rice catch the pass on the wing.
Rice finally missed at the end of the first half, but BC still led 28-22.
The Deacons got going after halftime, and Gray capped a 7-0 run with a 3 to give them their first lead in 15 minutes. But Rice stepped outside again to put the Eagles ahead, and after another tie a bit later, he gave them the lead for good with another one.
And still he wasn't done. His final points came on a 3-pointer with about 8 minutes remaining to increase the margin to four, and BC steadily pulled away from there until a late rally from the Deacons made the final margin a bit more respectable.
