Craig Smith, fresh off a week that made him the Eagles’ first-ever ACC Player of the Week, provided his usual interior dominance by scoring 17 points on 7-12 shooting. But it was the revamped play of BC’s bench, led by the soaring blocks of Sean Williams and the long-range accuracy of Tyrese Rice that proved to ACC opponents that the Eagles are ready to play.
“It’s a perfect time for us to get rolling,” said Sean Marshall, who had a game high 18 points on 4-7 shooting from behind the arc. “We have a lot of faster guys this year. It’s like a burst of energy."
Rice was the offensive spark for the Eagles off the bench with 14 points on three long triples. After draining his first three of the night from NBA range with a man in his face, Rice’s second three-pointer was made possible by the second of two game-changing blocks by Williams.
The first came during an 11-2 BC run with six minutes remaining in the first half. Rashaun Freeman, the leading scorer for the Minutemen, looked as though he had an easy path to a transition lay-up. But Williams, in his fourth game back after returning from a suspension, leapt out of nowhere to trap Freeman’s shot high up on the glass. Then, after Rice’s bomb gave the Eagles their largest lead of the game by opening up a 30-20 gap, Williams responded to his captain’s demands.
“Craig just told me to go get one,” said Williams, who swatted away a UMASS floater in traffic and got the Eagles out into a fast break situation.
His teammates capitalized on the big play by getting the ball to a wide-open Rice, who buried another three from well beyond the arc with 4:39 to go in the first half. The play turned out to be an early dagger for the Minutemen, who quickly went down by 11, a deficit that would only grow with time.
“That’s the wakeup call,” said Smith after the game as he recalled his thoughts on the block. “Now let’s run these guys."
The Eagles never looked back, stretching the lead to 15 points by the end of the half. In the first few minutes of the second half, BC exhibited their newly-found athletic ability by beating the Minutemen on the fast break. With speedy freshman like Rice and Marquez Haynes and long, sophomore big men like Williams and Akida McLain, the Eagles created transition opportunities throughout the entire second half.
“It’s the defense that created that,” said BC coach Al Skinner following the game. “It made us a lot more aggressive. The guys coming off the bench have the ability to do that."
Now the Eagles believe they have a team that can run with anyone in the ACC. Recent additions like McLain and Williams give the team a defensive and athletic dimension that was lacking during their only conference game of the year, a loss to Maryland in December.
“We were undersized against Maryland,” said Jared Dudley, who added a quiet 14 points of his own. “We’re a more athletic team and overall a better team."
The Eagles now travel to Atlanta to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who are 7-4 on the season. Skinner and his players are eager to prove that they are not the same team that is responsible for their 0-1 record in the ACC.
“This is a different team that played against Maryland,” said Skinner. “It’s clear that we’re improving. If we’re gonna have success in this league we’re gonna need to get better. The real season is about to start."