BOSTON (AP)—When Boston College came out shooting 3-pointers in the first half against Dartmouth on Friday night, that wasn’t part of the game plan.
It was a mistake.
“I’m not sure you’re going to see much more of that,” coach Al Skinner said after the 11th-ranked Eagles coasted to an 80-61 victory over Dartmouth. “When you have players in your frontcourt like we do, we’ve got to make sure we get them the ball.”
Craig Smith had 22 points and nine rebounds as BC opened its inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a tuneup against the less-formidable Ivy League. Fellow forward Jared Dudley had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles.
“We just tried to pick our poison,” Dartmouth coach Terry Dunn said. “Unfortunately, there was too much poison.”
Boston College received the No. 11 ranking in The Associated Press poll— its highest preseason ranking since 1967—on the strength of its forwards. Smith and Dudley both made All-Big East first team last year and Smith is the first preseason first-team All-America selection in Boston College history.
So Skinner was annoyed when he saw his players chucking up 3-point shots on four of their first seven trips down the floor. In the middle of the first, BC fired it up from 3-point range on five consecutive trips down the floor; half of the Eagles’ 30 shots in the first half were from beyond the arc.
“When we came in at the half, Coach Skinner emphasized getting the ball inside,” said guard Sean Marshall, who was 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
The lecture worked: BC tried a more typical six 3-point shots in the second. Instead, the Eagles worked the ball down low to Smith and Dudley.
“We fired the ball up sometimes on the first pass,” Skinner said. “We’ve got to make sure we get (Smith) the ball. They are going to double- and triple-team him. That doesn’t mean we can forget that he’s there.”
Leon Pattman scored 14 points and Mike Lang hit three 3-pointers for Dartmouth. Marshall scored 15 and Louis Hinnant 12 for the Eagles, who started the season 20-0 last year and climbed as high as third in the AP poll.
Boston College scored 12 consecutive points to break a 5-5 tie and Dartmouth never got closer than six points after that.
Smith was 10-for-11 from the line, and highly touted freshman reserve Tyrese Rice scored eight points, making just 1-of-5 from 3-point range.
Dartmouth was the most improved team in the Ivy League last year, going 7-7 in the conference a year after winning just one game. But the Big Green went just 1-13 on the road in 2004-05.
Boston College and Dartmouth have played 28 times since the Green won 60-13 on Jan. 19, 1905, in BC’s third-ever game.
