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Teague, Wake Forest blast Boston College

Jan 15, 2009 - 6:39 AM CHESTNUT HILL, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- So much for a trap game.

Jeff Teague continued his torrid pace Wednesday with 29 points as third-ranked Wake Forest cruised past Boston College, 83-63, to set up a battle of unbeatens with Clemson.

Freshman Al-Farouq Aminu added 15 points while Chas McFarland and James Johnson each collected 11 and eight rebounds for Wake Forest (15-0, 2-0 ACC), which matched the best start in school history set way back in the 1926-27 season.

The win was the 100th of Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio's career and marked the first victory in school history over Boston College, which won the first seven meetings between the two teams.

"We rubbed salt in that wound this week, we really did," Gaudio told the Winston-Salem Journal. "The coaches did. We rubbed salt in that wound. I told them, 'We'd never beaten Boston College.' Since they've been in the ACC we've been 0-4 and I guess there were three games before that. And pretty soon you've got to say enough's enough."

The Demon Deacons, who shot 54 percent (31-of-56) and led throughout against the Eagles, will visit the Tigers (16-0) on Saturday in a matchup of two of the country's three remaining undefeated teams.

Top-ranked Pittsburgh (16-0) has also yet to lose this season.

Coming off its signature win so far this season, a 92-89 victory over North Carolina on Sunday, Wake Forest had the potential of looking ahead to the marquee matchup with Clemson.

However, that did not appear to be the case in Chestnut Hill as Wake Forest jumped out to an early lead and did not look back. After opening the game on a 10-2 spurt, the Demon Deacons outscored the Eagles, 32-12, in the paint over the first 20 minutes en route to a 47-27 halftime lead.

While Boston College managed to cut the deficit to as little as nine, 64-55, on a 3-pointer by Tyrese Rice with 8:08 left in the game, Wake Forest tightened up the defense from that point on, limiting the Eagles to just eight points for the remainder of the contest.

"I don't think anybody got rattled," Teague told the Journal. "We've played in some close games this year. BYU, that was a tough game. All we had to do was take care of the ball and knock down free throws at the end."

Teague, the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week after a 34-point performance in the win over North Carolina, knocked down 10-of-17 shots from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.

"I don't think he played well tonight, to be honest with you," Gaudio told the newspaper. "But he can really score the ball. He can draw fouls. He's a little bit emotional sometimes and I have to pull him back and calm him down."

Rice and Joe Trapani had 20 points apiece for the Eagles (13-5, 1-2), who have lost three straight since an upset victory over the then-No. 1 Tar Heels on January 4.

Boston College shot just 37 percent (22-of-60) from the field and committed 16 turnovers, eight by Rice.