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Big East Tournament roundup Boston College outlasts St. John's 82-75 in overtimePosted: Thursday March 13, 2003 2:53 PMUpdated: Friday March 14, 2003 12:49 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Craig Smith went barreling to the basket against St. John's looking like a defensive tackle heading for the quarterback. The Boston College freshman has football size at 6-foot-7, 265 pounds -- and uses all of it. "I have a big body and can play a power game," he said. Smith scored 10 of his 33 points in overtime Thursday, leading Boston College to an 82-75 victory in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. "I never played high school football, but I got a couple of offers to college," he said. "I didn't want football. Basketball is my whole life." He gave the Eagles life in the Big East tournament, tying the game on a three-point play with 28.8 seconds to play in regulation and then dominating the five-minute overtime. "I took it upon myself to take over," he said. "I didn't want to go back to Boston. I wanted to stay here in New York." He got his wish and Boston College (18-10) advanced to the semifinals against Pittsburgh. Eagles coach Al Skinner likes Smith's size. "He's an inside presence," Skinner said. "He has the opportunity to score inside and has a lot of skills." This was Boston College's third win this season against St. John's, and it did not come easily. The Red Storm (16-13) had won four straight and the Eagles were coming off a 37-point loss to Connecticut. "It's not often you lose to one team three times in a season," St. John's coach Mike Jarvis said. "We did." Boston College had a five-point lead with two minutes to play in regulation but consecutive mistakes by Troy Bell, the conference player of the year, allowed St. John's to get back in it. First, Bell had the ball stolen by Willie Shaw, who made a three-point play. Then Hatten converted a pair of foul shots after a turnover by Bell, giving St. John's the lead at 66-64. A free throw by Grady Reynolds, following a foul by Bell, made it 67-64, setting the stage for Smith's three-point play and the extra period. After Smith's basket and free throw tied the game at 67, St. John's played for a last shot. Marcus Hatten, who led the Red Storm with 19 points, ran the clock down but missed, forcing overtime. "When I shot the ball, it was too hard," Hatten said. "It was one-on-one, me and Bell. I thought I got the best shot possible." After Ryan Sidney gave Boston College the overtime lead, Smith took over, scoring eight straight points for the Eagles. After Kyle Cuffe tied the score for St. John's at 73 with 90 seconds left, Smith hit a basket and then converted two free throws to give the Eagles a four-point lead. Hatten's two free throws made it 77-75 with 36.3 seconds remaining, but St. John's didn't score again. Syracuse 74, Georgetown 69NEW YORK (AP) -- Syracuse freshman Gerry McNamara had missed just five free throws all season. So when he blew a pair in the second half against Georgetown in the Big East tournament Thursday night, it was a little scary for the Orangemen, who have had their foul shooting woes over the years.There were other misses as well. Carmelo Anthony and Hakim Warrick let three-point play opportunities slip away from the foul line and with Georgetown's Mike Sweetney dominating the backboards and scoring almost at will, it seemed the Hoyas might spring an upset. Then Anthony, Billy Edelin and McNamara made six straight free throws down the stretch and the No. 11 Orangemen held off the Hoyas 74-69. The victory moved the Syracuse (24-4) into Friday night's semifinals against either Connecticut or Seton Hall, who met in the final game of the day. Georgetown scored 41 points in the first half, a day after managing just 46 in the entire game against Villanova. The Hoyas led 41-39 at the half but were shut down in the second half by a persistent Syracuse defense. In a seesaw second half, Syracuse nudged ahead by three before Brandon Bowman scored seven straight points for the Hoyas. Georgetown was still ahead by a point thanks to Syracuse's foul line problems, highlighted by McNamara's misses. "It was a shocker when Gerry missed those free throws," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. Two of the freshman guard's other misses also came against the Hoyas earlier in the season. "He's shooting about 100 percent against everybody else." The misses kept it close. But Syracuse found its foul line shooting eye just in time to secure the victory. Anthony's two free throws gave Syracuse a 64-63 lead and Edelin's pair made it 68-65. The Hoyas were still just one point back when Kueth Duany hit a foul shot and then made a steal that resulted in two more free throws by McNamara -- his only points of the second half. Anthony led Syracuse with 21 points while Duany added 16 and Warrick 14. Sweetney had 29 points and 13 rebounds for Georgetown and Brandon Bowman scored 18. It was Syracuse's third victory this season against Georgetown. "I'm sick of playing them," Hoyas coach Craig Esherick said.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Pittsburgh showed why it is the best defensive
team in the Big East, holding Providence to one field goal over the
final 5 1/2 minutes in a 67-59 victory Thursday that sent the
fifth-ranked Panthers to the semifinals of the Big East tournament.
Donatas Zavackas had 16 points to lead the Panthers (24-4), who
will play Boston College on Friday night as they try to reach the
championship game for the third straight year.
Boston College (18-10), which beat St. John's 82-75 in overtime
in the quarterfinals, did not play Pittsburgh this season.
The Friars (16-13) did a good defensive job on the Panthers, and
they used an 8-0 run to take a 51-49 lead with 5:36 to play on a
layup by Ryan Gomes.
The Panthers answered with a 9-0 run that showed their first
offensive sparks of the second half. Brandin Knight started it with
a drive with 4:41 left, his first points of the second half, and
Julius Page added a layup 33 seconds later, his first points of the
second half.
By the time Knight made two free throws with 2:50 left to give
Pittsburgh a 58-51 lead, Providence had come up empty on four
straight possessions.
A jumper by Donnie McGrath with 1:15 left brought Providence to
61-57, but the Panthers went 6-for-6 from the free throw line over
the final 24 seconds to seal their seventh straight win.
Knight had 15 points for the Panthers, who allowed just 60
points a game this season, while Jaron Brown had 13 and Page eight.
McGrath had 17 points, all but two on 3-pointers, for the
Friars, while Gomes, who was double-teamed and forced away from his
favorite spot on the block, had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Gomes,
who entered the game averaging 18.7 points and 9.6 rebounds, was
6-for-12 from the field, and the Friars shot 35.2 percent
(19-for-54) and committed 18 turnovers.
Providence snapped a five-game losing streak in the Big East
tournament with the 73-50 opening-round win over West Virginia. The
Friars, who probably will play in the NIT, had won three straight
and six of seven.
Connecticut 83, Seton Hall 70NEW YORK (AP) -- Ben Gordon made sure Connecticut extended its Big East tournament quarterfinal winning streak to eight games.The sophomore guard had 25 points and three big plays when Seton Hall made its only run of the second half as the Huskies won 83-70 Thursday night. Emeka Okafor had 11 points and 18 rebounds for Connecticut (20-8), which moved a step closer to defending its conference title. The Huskies will play No. 11 Syracuse (24-4), which beat Georgetown 74-69, in Friday night's semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Connecticut beat the Orangemen 75-61 in their only meeting this season. The Huskies were in control throughout but the Pirates (17-12) took advantage of an offensive slump to get to 51-45 with 11:21 left on a basket by J.R. Morris. Gordon made a nice spin move to get himself open and hit a 3-pointer with 11:03 left to make it 54-45. Morris and Andre Sweet then scored around a Connecticut turnover to make it 54-49 with 9:53 to play. Gordon found Mike Hayes with a quick pass underneath for a three-point play, and then he hit a 3 with 9:01 left to make it 60-49. Seton Hall would only get as close as nine points one more time in the game. Tony Robertson had 14 points for the Huskies, who finished with a 50-35 advantage on the boards. John Allen had 18 points for Seton Hall, which won 10 of its last 13 games and has compiled a record solid enough to qualify for an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament. But the Pirates will have to wait until Sunday to find out. Kelly Whitney added 14 points for Seton Hall, while Andre Barrett had 13 points and seven assists. Connecticut reached the 20-win mark for the 14th time in coach Jim Calhoun's 17 seasons there. The win by the Huskies, who lost two of their last three, meant the four top-seeded teams in the tournament reached the semifinals for the third time in five years. The other semifinal will have No. 5 Pittsburgh against Boston College. In addition to winning their last eight quarterfinal-round
games, the Huskies, five-time champions, have won 13 of their last
15 tournament games.
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