March 8, 2001

Box Score

Postgame Audio: S. Lapas

By HAL BOCK
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Boston College punctuated its worst-to-first march through the Big East Thursday, ripping Villanova 93-79 and advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Eagles (24-4) will face either Seton Hall or Georgetown Friday night. The Pirates and Hoyas met in the second game of Thursday's afternoon doubleheader. BC, which went from 3-13 and last in the league a year ago to 13-3 this season, wore down Villanova with a long range attack that included 10 3-point baskets. It was the third time in the last four games the Eagles had hit 10 or more from beyond the 3-point line. Troy Bell, the conference's co-Player of the Year, led BC with 25 points and made 10 of his 15 shots. Kenny Harley had 19 while Ryan Sidney had 13 and Jonathan Beerbohm 12 off the bench.

Villanova (18-12) stayed with BC through the first half and trailed by six, 40-34 after 20 minutes. It could have been closer but Ricky Wright, who hit all four shots from the field in the first half, missed a pair of free throws after the buzzer.

BC quickly extended the lead at the start of the second half with Bell, Harley and Xavier Singletary all nailing 3-pointers in a 17-8 run that opened the lead to 57-42. Later, Bell and Harley hit consecutive 3's that simply squeezed the life out of the Wildcats.

Typical of BC's approach was a play when Harley missed a free throw and then dashed in to tip the rebound away from Michael Bradley and turn the play into another field goal. Later, with BC coasting 19 points ahead, Beerbohm caught the Wildcats napping and threw a length of the court pass that created an easy basket for Harley.

Wright, who made all nine of his shots from the field, led Villanova with 21 points while Bradley had 14 and 12 rebounds.