No. 5 Boston College Reaches 20-0 Mark

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Posted 11:14PM on Saturday, February 5, 2005

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Fifth-ranked Boston College beat Seton Hall 60-52 on Saturday night to become the first team in conference history to start the season 20-0 - and they did it in their last season in the Big East. Jared Dudley had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Eagles (20-0, 9-0), which set the school record for a winning streak and remained with top-ranked Illinois as the only unbeatens in Division I. The Illini, also 20-0, play Indiana on Sunday. Just as in a few of the Eagles' wins this season, the victory over Seton Hall (10-9, 2-6) wasn't high on style points. But they won despite playing at the pace Seton Hall wanted and by scoring a season-low point total on a night they shot well below their average. Craig Smith had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Eagles, who came into the game averaging 74.2 points on 46.6 percent shooting, while Sean Marshall added 12 points, all in the first half. John Allen had 12 points for the Pirates, who came in averaging a Big East-low 64.5 points per game on a league-worst 40.6 percent shooting. Dudley's 3-pointer with 2:32 left gave Boston College a 52-47 lead. Andrew Sweet's three-point play got Seton Hall within two with 2:05 left, but the Pirates scored on only one of their final five possessions and the Eagles closed with an 8-2 run. Two Big East teams had gone 19-0 before, but Connecticut in 1998-99 and Syracuse in 1999-2000 both lost in their 20th game. The Eagles, who will join the Atlantic Coast Conference next season, won 19 straight games in the 1968-69 season. Their next game is Tuesday at Notre Dame. Boston College shot 37 percent for the game (20-for-54), while Seton Hall was 20-for-56 (35.7 percent). Both teams had three 3-pointers, Boston College in 11 attempts, the Pirates in 14. With Seton Hall dictating the pace of the game, the 35-second shot clock was often in single digits and there were a number of forced shots by both teams. Seton Hall was trying for its second win over a Top Five team in as many seasons. The Pirates knocked off fourth-ranked Pittsburgh last February.