No. 14 BC Destroys Harvard

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.—Boston College put on a spectacular aerial show on Thursday night for 7,149 fans at Conte Forum, while the Harvard men's basketball team was unable to even attain liftoff.

In a display of superior athleticism that included alley-oops, breakaway dunks and a bevy of baskets from long range, the Eagles (8-2) ran away from an overmatched Harvard squad by a score of 89-55.

"It's probably the best forty minutes we've had all season," BC coach Al Skinner said. "We've won some ballgames, but we haven't played a great forty minutes. We raised our level of intensity for forty minutes—we had not had that."

The Crimson (8-4) was unable to compete with the nation's No. 14 ranked squad, falling behind right from the game's first possession when BC won the tip and converted a layup by center John Oates. The Eagles scored the first nine points of the contest, an opening statement that also included baskets by sterling forwards Craig Smith and Jared Dudley.

“It was a really discouraging night to be sure,” Sullivan said. “But from our perspective—good as advertised. They’ve got depth, they’ve got shooting from the perimeter, they’ve got power players inside. They’ve just got a lot of answers.”

After Harvard recovered to make the score 19-10 on a three pointer by junior shooting guard Jim Goffredo, the Eagles scored the next eight points to establish the cushion they would maintain for the rest of the game. The crucial spurt was keyed by BC's fantastic freshmen, as point guard Tyrese Rice nailed a pair of three pointers sandwiched by a bucket from guard Marquez Haynes. The Crimson was unable to even get a shot off during the run thanks to a pair of turnovers—two of the season-high 22 that were forced by the swarming BC full-court press.

The Eagles never had to sweat the rest of the night. Dudley scored six points over the remainder of the first period to help BC pull out to a 39-21 halftime lead, which the Crimson would be unable to cut into.

Harvard was given no window to mount a comeback in the second half thanks to BC hitting almost everything it threw at the basket—literally. The Crimson's rough evening was encapsulated with 15:51 remaining, when with the Eagles already up by 46-24, Smith fell to the ground, tossed a 15-footer from the ground towards the rim, and watched the ball bounce in.

BC was a model of offensive efficiency, shooting 61 percent from the floor and handing out assists on 28 of its 38 baskets—a figure that compares favorably to Harvard's nine assists on its 22 baskets.

Rice was the main force behind that ball movement, contributing a game-high seven assists against just two turnovers. Fast becoming a household name in the Hub, the freshman came off the bench to pour in 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting, nailing all three of his attempts from downtown. Rice also created the game's most breathtaking moment, tossing up a perfect lob pass for fellow frosh Haynes to catch and slam through the basket with two hands. The dunk by Haynes, who also finished with 13 points off the bench, capped a 19-6 run that gave the Eagles a 78-44 lead, its largest to that point, with 4:40 to play.

“You’ve got to pay the price,” Sullivan said. “The Atlantic Coast Conference—this is a big boy’s league.

While Rice and Haynes provided the explosive spark off the pine that blew up the contest, Smith and Dudley—who both were selected to the All-Big East first team last year—proved unstoppable.

The 6’7 Dudley was able to shoot over the smaller defenders guarding him on the perimeter as well as finish on drives to the hoop, scoring a team-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. Without 7’0 injured center Brian Cusworth in the paint, Harvard was also unable to slow the 250-pound Smith, who finished with 14 points.

The Crimson was led by forward Evan Harris, who had the best game of his short collegiate career, scoring a game-high 18 points on 7-of-11 from the floor. The athletic Harris was able to match up well with BC's talented frontcourt players, and added seven rebounds to the cause in only 18 minutes of play. Harvard, which shot 33 percent, received nine points and seven rebounds from captain Matt Stehle.

The Crimson returns to action on Dec. 28 when it travels to play Southern Methodist in Dallas. Harvard will be going for its ninth non-conference victory, which would be a record for the Crimson under Sullivan.

—Staff writer Caleb W. Peiffer can be reached at cpeiffer@fas.harvard.edu.