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Dudley dominates as Boston College handles Virginia Tech

Feb 3, 2007 - 10:19 PM CHESTNUT HILL, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- The Eagles are flying high and Jared Dudley is a big reason why.

Dudley had another huge game and Boston College maintained its place among the Atlantic Coast Conference leaders with an 80-59 rout of No. 18 Virginia Tech.

The Eagles (16-6, 6-2 ACC) have now won nine of their last 11 games and broke a tie with the Hokies for second place in the conference standings, one-half game back of No. 3 North Carolina, which visits North Carolina State later Saturday.

Boston College set a school record with 14 3-pointers and shot nearly 69 percent (33-of-48) from the floor in Wednesday's 94-60 rout of Hartford. The Eagles were nearly as hot against the Hokies.

Dudley scored 16 of his 30 points in the first half as the Eagles opened up a 47-26 lead. Boston College was 8-of-15 from the arc in the opening 20 minutes and finished with 12 3-pointers.

Dudley was 4-of-5 from the arc and added 11 rebounds. He got help from Tyrese Rice, who scored 20 points.

"The threes were wide open. I think they were in a zone and I'm looking to shoot the ball more," Dudley said. "I think I've had the same looks my whole career but it's just confidence. I just thought that I was feeling it."

Rice scored on a layup following a 3-pointer and a three-point play by Dudley to give Boston College a 31-14 lead with eight minutes left in the opening half. Rice made a 3-pointer just over three minutes later to extend the lead to 39-16.

"They keyed on Dudley so much in the zone and when he gets the ball in the high post, you have to move around and he'll find you and when he found me I was able to penetrate and hit a couple of open shots," Rice said. "Open shots, that's just what is was. Dudley knocked down some and that extended the defense a little more to penetrate and kick threes."

Virginia Tech (16-7, 6-3) was coming off one of its worst shooting performances of the campaign in Wednesday's 70-59 loss to N.C. State, in which it shot just 35 percent (21-of-60).

The Hokies were marginally better from the floor, shooting 45 percent (24-of-53), but were outscored, 10-1, to start the game and never fully recovered.

Rice capped the opening spurt with a 3-pointer and felt the fast start was a key to the game.

"We just felt like it was a game we needed and we felt like if we jumped on them early we would be able to hold them off," he said.

Deron Washington scored 18 points and Zabian Dowdell added 17 for Virginia Tech.

"They were good and we weren't right from the first play," Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "Our number one point of emphasis was toughness and they outfought us for the ball and laid it in and did not get any better. They were just tougher than us in every aspect of the game and we have to resolve that. It is good we have a week off to regroup."

Boston College has now won all five encounters against Virginia Tech since joining the ACC and nine of 11 all-time matchups.