Mar 17, 2007, 15:50 GMT
Winston-Salem, NC - The second-seeded Georgetown Hoyas and the seventh-seeded Boston College Eagles have advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and the two teams will collide on Saturday in Winston-Salem. The winner of this game will move on to the 'Sweet 16' to take on either third- seeded Washington State or sixth-seeded Vanderbilt.
On Thursday, Boston College got past 10th-seeded Texas Tech in an 84-75 final. The Eagles are making their fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, their sixth in the last seven years and the 17th in program history. They are 22-17 all-time in the event, and they were obviously able to bounce back strong against Texas Tech after dropping a 71-56 decision to North Carolina in the semifinal round of the ACC Tournament.
Georgetown got off to a slow start against 15th-seeded Belmont on Thursday, but the favorites got on track and rolled to an 80-55 romp over the Bruins. With wins in 15 of the last 16 games, the Hoyas have played at a tremendously high level since mid-January. Georgetown is making its 24th trip to the 'Big Dance', and it hopes to improve on its 41-22 record in college basketball's premier tournament. The Hoyas have reached the Sweet 16 on 10 occasions, most recently last season.
Georgetown owns a 43-28 series lead over Boston College in the all-time series, but the Eagles did record a 64-49 victory over the Hoyas in the most recent meeting during the 2004-05 season.
Boston College went on a 14-4 run midway through the second half that proved to be the difference against Texas Tech on Thursday. The Eagles connected on 52.6 percent of their field goal attempts and earned advantages in both rebounds (35-27) and points from the foul line (16-8). Boston College possesses an outstanding trio of players comprised of Jared Dudley, Tyrese Rice and Sean Marshall, and all three individuals put up big numbers in the first round. Rice netted 26 points, Marshall scored 21 points and Dudley finished with 19 points. Dudley, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, carried averages of 19.0 ppg and 8.3 rpg into this tournament, and he will undoubtedly get plenty of attention from Georgetown defenders today. As for Rice, who carried a mark of 17.2 ppg into this event, he seems to get better with every game. Marshall can score and dish effectively, and the trio is tremendously difficult to contain.
While Dudley won the top individual award in his conference this season, Georgetown's Jeff Green was named the 2006-07 Big East Conference Player of the Year. Heading into this tournament, Green was leading his team in scoring while placing second in rebounding and assists, proof of his tremendous versatility Like all the players who see significant action for the Hoyas, Green is remarkably unselfish, and the team-first attitude has Georgetown in position to make a serious run at the national championship for the first time in quite some time. Sure, the club did reach the 'Sweet 16' a year ago, but this season's team is much more prepared to advance. Georgetown fell behind early in the first half against Belmont, but the Hoyas scored 11 unanswered points to grab the lead and never looked back. Jessie Sapp netted a career-high 20 points to lead the way in the victory, and Green posted 15 points. Roy Hibbert, the club's mammoth center, finished with 10 points and 13 boards.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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