• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Seniors Marshall, Dudley pace Boston College past Texas Tech

Mar 15, 2007 - 9:31 PM WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Sean Marshall and Jared Dudley were not about to let their college careers come to an end.

Marshall scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half while Dudley chipped in 13 of his 19 after the break to lead seventh-seeded Boston College to an 84-75 victory over 10th-seeded Texas Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's East Region.

The senior pair of Marshall and Dudley struggled down the stretch this season as the Eagles lost five of their last seven games.

But the veteran duo were outstanding Thursday, combining to score 28 points in the second half. They finished 17-of-30 from the floor and grabbed a total of 14 rebounds.

"I think it is the best we've executed on the offensive end in a while," Marshall said. "We got a lot of layups and open shots and we made those shots today."

"We did a pretty good job offensively and defensively," Dudley added. "A lot of our plays were working, and they were having trouble adjusting."

The Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, Dudley was plagued by early foul trouble and provided very little in the first half for the Eagles, who entered the break with a 41-39 lead.

But the 6-7 Dudley got off to a fast start in the second half, scoring nine points over a stretch of less than five minutes to keep Boston College within striking distance.

"I was definitely concerned, especially at the start of the (second) half when I thought I got a flop call," Dudley said. "It basically took away my aggressiveness.

"I tried to hit the glass. I tried to get some easy tip-ins to get things going. I had a huge height advantage so I stayed in the paint and tried to use the height to my advantage."

The Red Raiders (21-13) took a 58-54 lead thanks to Jarrius Jackson's 3-pointer with 13:20 remaining.

But the Eagles responded with a 14-4 run capped by a 3-pointer from Marshall, who made it 68-62 with 8:52 left.

"It was a team effort," said Marshall, who scored 11 points during the outburst. "That four-minute stretch was really big for us. It kind of boosted us on the offensive end and made it tough for them to get open looks."

Tyrese Rice scored 26 points to pace Boston College (21-11), which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year. The Eagles next will face second-seeded Georgetown, which rolled to a 25-point rout of Belmont on Thursday.

"I thought we showed a lot more patience on the offensive end," Boston College coach Al Skinner said. "We didn't play hurried. Our guys were patient.

"I didn't think the game was getting away from us. We just made a couple of mistakes on the offensive end and allowed them to get out and get some transition baskets."

Martin Zeno scored 21 points for Texas Tech, which shot just 42 percent (13-of-31) after the break to fall to 3-4 under coach Bob Knight in the NCAA Tournament.

The Red Raiders cut their deficit to 78-73 with 1:39 left on Charlie Burgess' layup. But Rice drilled six free throws over the final 42 seconds to seal the victory for the Eagles, who shot 80 percent (16-of-20) from the line.

"We scored enough points," Knight said. "We didn't need to score any more points. We just didn't get it done defensively like we needed to do. They took advantage of what they had."

Burgess and reserve Alan Voskuil each scored 12 points for Texas Tech. But Jackson, who averaged a team-leading 20.2 points this season, managed just 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting in his final collegiate game.

"We were doing a pretty good job of scoring," Jackson said. "Other players were stepping up and scoring for us. I was just trying to let the game come to me."