NEW YORK (AP) – With 11:59 to play in Friday night's Big East semifinal, Seton Hall was right there, tied with Boston College at 42, trading baskets with the Eagles, continuing its unlikely run through the conference tournament.
|  | | Troy Bell, left, who led the Eagles with 24 points, celebrates with teammate Kenny Walls. |
And then, all at once, the Pirates hit the wall.
Boston College scored the next 13 points, paused for a moment, then went on a 15-0 run, drilling Seton Hall 75-48 to reach the championship game of the tournament.
The Eagles (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) will play Pittsburgh, which defeated Syracuse 55-54 in overtime in the second game of the semifinal doubleheader.
Troy Bell, co-Player of the Year in the Big East, led the Eagles with 24 points, while Xavier Singletary added 15. Ryan Sidney had 11 and Jonathan Beerbohm added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"When they tied the game, I knew we had to step it up," said
Bell, who also had five rebounds and five assists. "We were kind
of rushing things on the offensive end. But we got it together."
And when they did, Seton Hall had no answers. The game got out of control in a hurry.
"It feels good to come out and pile up points," Bell said.
"Guys did it to us last year, so ..."
So the Eagles are getting even. Their turnaround from 11-19 and 3-13 in the conference last year to 25-4 and 13-3 is one of the most remarkable reversals in college basketball.
"Every game is payback for us," Bell said. "That's how we look at it."
Seton Hall, playing its fourth must-win game in six days, simply ran out of energy down the stretch against a BC team that had a bye to start the tournament.
"When things got a little tough, they helped us run out of steam," said Seton Hall coach Tommy Amaker. "It's been a tough journey. We were excited by the opportunity to do something special, but we ran into what I think is the best team in our league."
Certainly BC looked like that in the final 12 minutes, denying
Seton Hall on possession after possession and taking complete
command of the game.
"We wanted to make them work," BC coach Al Skinner said. "I guess it had some effect over 40 minutes. It was not our best defensive effort, but it was a good one. I was impressed with how smart we played in the last 10 minutes."
Once BC (25-4) shifted into overdrive, Seton Hall managed just two more baskets the rest of the way..
The Eagles went on a 13-0 run over the next 4:11, with Sidney
and Uka Agbai each scoring consecutive baskets. Meanwhile, Seton
Hall (16-14) seemed out of answers. After Eddie Griffin's 3-point
play interrupted the run for the Pirates, BC went on another 15-0
run that was touched off by consecutive 3-pointers by Sidney and
Bell.
Seton Hall's only other basket in the final eight minutes was a
meaningless 3-pointer by Darius Lane, who had 13 for the game.
Griffin led the Pirates with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but made
just five of 14 shots from the field.
It was Lane's last-gasp basket that beat Connecticut last
Saturday and allowed the Pirates to make it into the Big East
tournament. Once ranked as high as No. 7, Seton Hall struggled
through a contentious season, losing eight of nine down the stretch
and nearly missing the tournament.
The win over UConn gave the Pirates a second chance and they
made the most of it, beating St. John's and Georgetown decisively
to reach ther semis. But they didn't have much left for BC, which has won six straight and turned a close semifinal into a rout.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Seton Hall Clubhouse
Boston College Clubhouse
Wojnarowski: Was Griffin worth it?
Pitt stuns Syracuse to earn its first berth in Big East final
Big East Conference
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 BC's Uka Agbai gets free underneath for the monster jam.
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BC's Troy Bell dishes to Ryan Sidney for a bucket.
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BC's Jonathan Beerbohm drives the lane, gets the basket -- and draws a foul.
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Seton Hall's Reggie Garrett fakes the jumper and drives to the hoop for the jam.
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 Troy Bell talks to ESPN's Dave Strader after the Eagles' semifinal victory.
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