No. 15 Miami Halts 2-Game Skid With 67-53 Win Over BC
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BOSTON (AP) — Sheldon McClellan scored 19 points, Ja'Quan Newton had 12 and No. 15 Miami rebounded from consecutive losses with a 67-53 win over Boston College on Wednesday night.
It was the 11th straight victory for the Hurricanes (14-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) against Boston College. Tonye Jekiri matched his career high with 17 rebounds, and Angel Rodriguez scored 12 points.
Jerome Robinson led the Eagles (7-11, 0-5) with 20 points and leading scorer Eli Carter had 12 on 4-for-18 shooting.
It was BC's fifth straight loss. The previous four — all in conference games — were by an average of 22.5 points.
Closing a stretch of three road games in nine days, Miami rode a solid start in the second half by Rodriguez, who scored nine points to help the Hurricanes open a 45-35 lead with 14:15 to play.
BC sliced it to 45-41 on Darryl Hicks' 3-pointer from the right corner with just more than 14 minutes to play.
Miami, which seemed to be relaxing on the defensive end of the floor on many possessions early in the second half, pushed its lead to 56-49 on Newton's baseline jumper with 5:45 to go.
The Eagles never trimmed their deficit below five points the rest of the way. They didn't have a basket in the final 7 minutes.
In the first half, the Hurricanes pounded the ball inside early and took advantage of nine BC turnovers in the opening 11 minutes to build a six-point edge before the Eagles answered with a 10-1 spree.
Miami closed the half by scoring eight of the final 12 points to grab a 29-28 advantage at halftime.
Neither team was crisp offensively in the opening 20 minutes, at times turning the ball over on consecutive possessions.
TIP-INS
Miami: The Hurricanes lost road games at Virginia and Clemson in their previous two. . Coach Jim Larranaga improved to 9-0 against BC since taking over the Hurricanes.
Boston College: Carter entered third in the conference in scoring at 17.6 points per game. He had 31 in a loss at then-No. 20 Pittsburgh on Saturday.
HONOREE
BC honored wounded veteran Cedric King at halftime, playing a video tribute from First Lady Michelle Obama. King then walked out to center court to a long standing ovation. It was part of Military Appreciation Night.
UP NEXT
Miami hosts Wake Forest on Saturday.
Boston College plays at Notre Dame on Saturday.
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