College basketball

BC falls short in ACC entry

By wire services
Published December 12, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Boston College coach Al Skinner looked at the stat sheet and shook his head.

The No.6 Eagles had just lost their Atlantic Coast Conference debut, falling to 21st-ranked Maryland 73-71 Sunday night, and Skinner was asked about his team's 5-for-15 performance at the free-throw line.

"We could have made more," he said, "but you're not going to win many games when the other team makes more free throws than you take, especially a team like ours, which is pretty aggressive going to the basket. I just find that hard to believe."

It might take a while for the Eagles (6-2) to get adjusted to the ACC, especially the referees.

Ekene Ibekwe scored 21 and Chris McCray 16 for the Terrapins (7-2, 1-0), who went 19-of-29 at the line. The Eagles were called for 24 fouls to 16 for Maryland.

That, the Terrapins contend, was by design.

"That was the first thing the coach told us when we were going over BC: They shoot 26 free throws a game and their opponents average 11 free throws," McCray said. "That's basically how they've been winning games. We just wanted to contain them and stay between them and the basket."

The game was physical from the opening tip, which ended up working in Maryland's favor.

"The big thing was they were averaging 26 free throws a game and we held them to 15. That helped us a lot," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "I thought the contact was there at both ends of the court. You try to adjust to how the game is being called."

Craig Smith had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Sean Marshall scored 15 for the Eagles, who lost to a Top 25 team for the second time in six days. They fell to No.14 Michigan State on Tuesday night.

Big East

GEORGETOWN 76, FAIRFIELD 51: Brandon Bowman scored 16 and the Hoyas (4-2) made 12 of 34 3-pointers to open a three-game homestand. Bowman shot 6-of-8 from the field and made 4 of 6 3-pointers.

SETON HALL 83, TULANE 64: Donald Copeland scored a career-high 25 to lead the host Pirates to an easy win. Jamar Nutter added 16 points for Seton Hall (6-2).

Nation

LOYOLA OF CHICAGO 80, PURDUE 65: Majak Kou scored 19, all but one during a four-minute stretch in the second half, to lead the host Ramblers (6-1) to their first win over a Big Ten team since November 1994.

CREIGHTON 70, NEBRASKA 44: Johnny Mathies scored a career-high 29 and the host Bluejays (4-2) capitalized on 31 Cornhuskers turnovers to win their seventh straight regular-season game against Nebraska.

State

COASTAL CAROLINA 81, JU 66: Jack Leasure tied his career high with 25 points to lead the host Chanticleers (2-3).

[Last modified December 12, 2005, 01:11:08]