 Center Tyrelle Blair records one of his seven rejections on Tuesday as the Eagles bounce back from their first loss of the season.
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After the final buzzer had sounded and the players had left the court on Tuesday night, the PA system blared Randy Bachman's "Takin' Care of Business." While the Eagles didn't have to work overtime in this one, they did put in an impressive workmanlike effort. The St. Louis Billikens made their first-ever trip to Conte Forum and, in light of the 61-39 beating they took from Boston College, they may never want to come back. With the Eagles coming off an emotionally draining overtime loss to Providence on Saturday night, people may have expected them to come out flat, but they didn't. After Tyler Roche's early 3-pointer made the score 5-2, the Eagles never looked back.
The Eagles were able to jump out to a 33-20 lead at the break - only the second time this season that BC had the lead at the half.
Using a swarming-and-trapping defense, the Eagles stifled St. Louis to a paltry 30.8 percent shooting. The aggressive defense featured three blocks by Tyrelle Blair and six forced turnovers, which resulted in 11 points. The Eagles were also able to utilize their superior size and strength, out-rebounding the Billikens 19-11.
On the offensive end, the Eagles managed to be effective despite Tyrese Rice not making, or even taking, his first shot until 10:10 in the first half. BC used Al Skinner's flex offense, effectively moving the ball around and creating scoring opportunities for other players. Tyler Roche, Shamari Spears, and Tyrelle Blair were able to take advantage of open shots; however, despite his unselfish play, Rice still ended up leading all first-half scorers with eight points to go along with his two assists.
St. Louis's offense has been a problem all year, ranking second to last in the Atlantic 10 in scoring. Those issues continued Tuesday. The Billikens' most potent offensive threat, junior guard Kevin Lisch, who averages 14.3 points per game, was cold from the start of the half, getting three points on one-for-seven shooting. The Billikens got 70 percent of their first-half points from two players; junior guard Tommie Liddell and senior forward Luke Meyer, who also led the team in total scoring with 11 points each.
2008 Woodie Awards
