ACC

As star stumbles, sophomore saves BC

Tyrese Rice's 32 points offset 12 by player of the year Jared Dudley as the Eagles rally.

By JOEY KNIGHT
Published March 10, 2007

TAMPA - Boxes of pepperoni pizza, stacked three-high on a table outside a St. Pete Times Forum locker room, served as Boston College's postgame sustenance Friday afternoon.

But before that collective calorific intake, the Eagles spent the better part of two hours subsisting solely on Rice.

On a day when conference player of the year Jared Dudley's anemic scoring line 12 points became the latest bizarre story line in the 54th ACC tournament, Eagles sophomore Tyrese Rice broke free of Dudley's 6-foot-7 shadow and into BC lore.

The indefatigable point guard scored a career-best 32, including a tying 3-pointer with 32 seconds to play in regulation, that propelled No. 4-seeded BC's 74-71 overtime triumph against a Miami club that appeared equally tireless.

During a tournament in which all four higher seeds were bounced on Day 1, Rice's favored team - which trailed by as many as 14 in the second half - helped reverse the trend with a few generous bounces.

Case in point: His tying trey, which kissed the front of the rim, bounced softly off the glass and into the basket.

"When I shot, I thought it was going straight in," said Rice, who played all 45 minutes. "But when it hit the front rim, I pretty much knew it was going to fall."

Dudley (who scored five of his 12 points in overtime) and a resurgent Eagles defense that forced 12th-seeded Miami (12-20) into some difficult shots in the waning possessions, took care of the rest against a club seeking its second upset in as many afternoons.

"Considering they had a great game (67-62 over No. 5 seed Maryland Thursday), it looked like they hadn't stopped playing," BC coach Al Skinner said.

The 'Canes ended the first half with a 10-3 run. The capper was Anthony Harris' trey at the buzzer that gave them a 38-28 lead.

Dudley, who finished seven points below his season average while facing a handful of defenders, remained scoreless until a pair of free throws 2:01 into the second half. He didn't convert his first field goal until a layup with 12:22 left in regulation and was whistled for two charges in a span of 1:42 late in regulation.

"You could tell they wanted it a little bit more. That was my frustration," Dudley said.

"We just wanted to make sure we weren't going to let Dudley beat us," Hurricanes coach Frank Haith said.

"And I thought our guys did a good job with that, other than I thought he killed us on the offensive glass."

Nonetheless, Miami had no fewer than three prime opportunities to tie or win in the final 90 seconds.

After Dudley's three-point play - on one of his four offensive rebounds - gave BC a 72-71 lead with 1:51 remaining, Miami missed three treys over the next two possessions.

Its last real scoring hope ended with Jack McClinton's turnover on an underhanded baseline prayer with five seconds to play. McClinton led Miami with 16 points in 41 minutes.

"I've got to believe if we continue to build on what we did in this tournament and in the last month of the season, we could have a special team," said Haith, who started two sophomores and a freshman.

"It's going to take our guys continuing to work, but I do like our team."

Joey Knight can be reached at (813) 226-3350 or jknight@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 10, 2007, 06:35:14]