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UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Boston College came too far this season to go out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Troy Bell wouldn't let it happen. The Big East Conference co-Player of the Year scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half as the Eagles held off upset-mined Southern Utah, 68-65, in an East Region first-round game at the Nassau Coliseum. "Last year, we would've lost a game like this and now we are more mature and we have enough character," Bell said. "We tried to be as patient as we could." The Eagles (27-4) overcame a spectacular effort by Jeff Monaco, the Player of the Year in the Mid-Continent Conference, who made six 3-pointers and scored 26 points for the Thunderbirds (25-6). Boston College, the No. 3 seed, will play the Southern California-Oklahoma State winner in the second round on Saturday. "It's obviously one and done (in the NCAA Tournament) and everyone is going to play a little bit harder," Boston College coach Al Skinner said. "And you have to fight a little bit more and its going to be scrappy." Boston College shot just 32 percent (22-of-68) from the field but wore down Southern Utah on the boards, grabbing an amazing 30 offensive rebounds. And the last one proved decisive as Bell chased down Xavier Singletary's miss and hit two foul shots with 13 seconds left to give Boston College a 68-65 lead. The Thunderbirds had a chance to tie but Justin Sant's 3-pointer from the right wing hit off the front of the rim at the buzzer. "I could look at every guy on this team and believe in them more now," Singletary said. "I feel every guy gave it their all. Nobody wanted to go home and I'm sure they (Southern Utah) didn't want to go home, either. They matched our intensity." From the start, Southern Utah showed it wasn't going to be intimidated by the Big East Conference champions. Monaco scored 17 points in the first half for the Thunderbirds, who led by as many as nine before settling for a 39-33 halftime lead. "We weren't going away," Southern Utah forward Frederick House said. "I told Troy Bell, you might be an All-Amercan but we're not going away. Boston College is a good team but we weren't going to let them roll all over us." Bell was held without a field goal in the first half, managing just two foul shots -- his lowest total at halftime this season. But the Eagles, who became the first Big East team to go from last to first this season, came out more focused in the second half and began crashing the boards on almost every possession. "The fact of the matter is the game is going to be called a little differently because the officials are unfamiliar and they don't know you and we can't get frustrated," Skinner said. "We have to maintain our focus and not allow ourselves to get bent out of shape and get caught up with that. I think we did a good job not doing that." Boston College used a 7-0 run to open a 50-45 lead on Kenny Walls' tip-in with 11:47 remaining. The Eagles clamped down on Monaco, who was held scoreless in the first 11-plus minutes of the second half. "You can't get it done taking 17 threes, so we tried to go to the basket a little bit more," Bell said. "We just kind of sat back and tried to be a little more patient." But the Thunderbirds, who ended Valparaiso's six-year run as champions of the Mid-Continent Conference, refused to lay down. Monaco got hot again, hitting a pair a 3-pointers in a two-minute span to give Southern Utah a 55-54 lead with 8:10 remaining. Ryan Sidney's 3-pointer gave the Eagles a 60-56 lead with 4:54 to go, but the Thunderbirds pulled a page out of Boston College's book to tie. They got three shots before Monaco drilled his final 3-pointer to pull Southern Utah even, 63-63, with 1:32 remaining. Singletary, who scored 15 points, answered with another 3-pointer, giving Boston College a 66-63 lead with 57 seconds to play. A driving layup by House, who scored 21 points, with 44 seconds left pulled the Thunderbirds within a point before Bell clinched the victory with his two foul shots. "I'm real proud of my guys," Southern Utah coach Bill Evans said. "We competed. We weren't as good offensively in the second half. Obviously, the difference in the game was our inability to rebound the ball." Southern Utah was trying to become the 14th No. 14 seed to win an opening-round game and the first since Weber State upset North Carolina in 1999. |
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