BOSTON — Boston College slowed down an already reeling North Carolina team even more.
Reggie Jackson, making his first
start of the season at point guard Saturday, scored 13 of his 17 points
in the second half to lift the Eagles to a 71-67 win over the
struggling Tar Heels.
Jackson said Boston College focused all week on controlling North Carolina's fast-break offense.
"We know they want to get out and
run. That was our main focus," said Jackson, who started in place of
Biko Paris. "If we would have stopped that at the beginning we probably
would have been up 10 at the half."
Corey Raji had 16 points and Rakim
Sanders added 14 for BC (13-13, 4-8 Atlantic Coast Conference), which
won for the second time in six games.
Deon Thompson paced North Carolina
(14-13, 3-9) with 17 points and nine rebounds. The Tar Heels, who shot
39 percent, lost their ninth in 11 games. It is the Tar Heels' worst
stretch since losing 11 of 12 in 2001-02.
"It's a frustrating time for us, the
most frustrating time I've ever had in coaching, there's no question
about that," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "Some way, somehow
we gotta keep trying to do the best we can do."
BC was clinging to a 65-62 lead after
the Tar Heels closed a 10-point lead, but Evan Ravenel had a put-back
jam off Jackson's miss with 1:52 left.
"I just followed the ball," said Ravenel, who provided a spark off the bench to tie his career-high with eight points.
Sanders scored off a drive after
Larry Drew II's three-point play, making the score 69-65 with just over
a minute left. Jackson nailed two free throws with 31 seconds remaining
to seal it.
John Henson had 11 points and Marcus Ginyard 10 for North Carolina.
Tar Heels center Tyler Zeller
returned after missing 10 games with a stress fracture of his right
foot. He finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
North Carolina opened the second
half by scoring 10 of the first 12 points, pulling ahead 46-39 on
Thompson's two free throws with 17:45 left, but the Eagles responded
with 10 straight points.
Jackson keyed the spree with a long 3-pointer and an alley-oop dunk.
"(Jackson) killed us all day. That
kinda summed up the whole day, what he did," Henson said. "I don't know
if we lost our poise but, like our season's been going, they made
plays."
BC controlled the Tar Heels'
fast-break offense and built its lead to 63-53 on Sanders' one-hander
in the lane with 7:28 to play.
"We've been struggling all year long
on what we need to do. I think we finally settled in," BC coach Al
Skinner said. "I'm not going to say the switch cured that. It was just
an understanding for the whole team. I'm not going to say it was Reggie
for Biko. It might have looked like that."
But the Tar Heels scored the next
seven points, closing the gap to 63-60 on Thompson's short jumper with
just under 5 minutes left.
BC led 37-36 at halftime.
North Carolina, which shot just 38
percent in the first half, use strong offensive rebounding and easy
transition baskets to keep the game close.
"We feel like we can win the ACC
tournament and, sorry to say it, upset some other teams watching when
the tournament comes out," Jackson said.
The Tar Heels were left wondering.
"I thought we were going to win
today and get on a great run and we be in the NCAA Tournament,"
Williams said. "Now I gotta readjust and see if we can get it done by
starting on Wednesday night."