Jared Dudley All American

After a tremendous career at Boston College, Jared Dudley was voted a Second Team All-American. Congratulations, Jared, you truly earned it.

On to the NCAA's

That was a tough loss yesterday. BC closed the gap to 9 and if Terry had missed a 3 deep from the right corner, they could have made it even tighter. Terry hit the shot and UNC controlled things from there. The game was played at UNC's pace and UNC dominated because of their superior talent and execution. BC missed too many layups in the first half and gave up too many offensive rebounds.

I am looking forward to BC in the tournament. The sweet 16 is real possibility. I think BC slots as a 7 seed, so the first round will be a challenge and the 2nd round should involve a talented 2 seed such as Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, UCLA, Wisconsin, Memphis or maybe even Florida. A team such as Georgetown or Wisconsin plays at our pace. I can't wait to see it works out. Until the brackets.....

BC vs. UNC

Huge game today, BC could improve its seeding in a major way by beating UNC today. UNC plays at a fast pace, is seriously athletic and deep, and is exceptionally efficient on both offense and defense. Still, BC played UNC almost completely even in February at Conte and truly could have won that game. Here are the keys that BC must take care of to win:

1. Jared Dudley: Jared has to play like the player of the year today, scoring and rebounding and playing strong defense on, most likely Brandan Wright. This could be one of the defining moments of Jared's career at BC.

2. John Oates and Tyrelle Blair: Oates and Blair need to be very effective while on the floor in stopping Hansborough, clogging the lane to stymie Lawson's penetration and preventing second-chance offensive rebounds for UNC. If they can merely stop Hansborough from dominating, that would be excellent.

3. Tyrese Rice: Tyrese has been improving his play throughout this season and is both a steady hand at point guard and a potent scorer. BC needs him to step up again today and a repeat of yesterday would be huge. Check out this Bob Ryan article for a great perspective on this: link

4. Sean Marshall: Just play better than yesterday, your legacy could be defined here today just as Jared's can.

5. End of the First Half: BC must not give away the last two minutes of the first half, as they have too many times this season. BC needs to at least keep pace during that time period and, if possible, grab momentum by outscoring UNC.

BC can definitely win today if they can keep possessions closer to their preferred tempo in the high 60s than UNC's mid-70s. BC needs to play better defense than they have recently, control the defensive boards and execute with the offensive efficiency they are capable of. This is such an important game for BC's seeding. Let's go Eagles.

BC wins

That was a huge, gutsy win by BC. At the under 4 minute timeout, I thought there was no way BC could pull that one out. In the closing minutes and overtime, there were huge plays by Rice, Oates and Dudley and keeping Miami to one shot for almost all of that time was a major part of why BC won. I really love that Dudley gets a chance to redeem himself after the two lost chances against UNC earlier this year. Winning tomorrow would be spectacular and I really think it is possible. I'm looking forward to it.

Also, congratulations to Holy Cross for a tough, duly earned entry into the Tournament. Good for them.

BC's Quarterfinal Matchup

Today, BC opens its 2nd ACC tournament against Miami, a team they beat twice this season. Neither victory was decisive. And yesterday, Miami beat Maryland at least in part with dominant offensive rebounding.

To beat Miami for the third time this season, BC has to collect defensive rebounds better than they have all season. BC also needs to run their offense with the type of efficiency that they produced for most of the season. BC is a better, more talented and more seasoned team than Miami and should beat them. Let's go eagles.