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Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Two for Tuesday
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Holy Cross vs. No. 21 Boston College, DCU Center, 7 p.m.: Boston College has won 14 of the last 15 meetings between these two, including three of four at the DCU Center. Holy Cross' win in that period came in Dec. 2002. That was the current HC seniors freshman year, but neither was a factor in that game. Kevin Hamilton played 11 minutes and had as many fouls as points (3). Kevin Hyland didn't even get off the bench.

The Crusaders can count on much more from Hamilton this time. Whether the same can be said for Hyland remains to be seen. He will have to be more of a factor in this one than he was Saturday at Bucknell if the Crusaders expect to pull an upset.

Boston College presents a matchup nightmare for Holy Cross, with a pair of 6-7 forwards that each score in double figures. Senior Craig Smith is the best known of the three A legitimate All-America candidate (he was third team on the NABC squad, honorable mention AP last season), the three-time All-Big East selection will hit the 2,000 career points mark with his first bucket tonight. Smith is averaging 22.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. His last time out he dropped 28 points and grabbed 14 boards against Florida State.

Joining him in the frontcourt is 6-7 junior Jared Dudley, a star in his own right. Dudley, last year's Big East Most Improved Player (and a first team all-league pick) averages 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds.

Toss in 6-6 swingman Sean Marshall (13.3 ppg) and you start to see all kinds of headaches for Holy Cross. (Did we mention they also have a 6-10 kid in the starting lineup and a 6-8 and another 6-10 also in the rotation?)

Holy Cross ought to be able to neutralize some of that size by playing a lot of zone. Ralph Willard's matchup can give teams fits, especially teams that are not familiar with the Crusaders. But BC also has three guys shooting better than 37.8 percent from three-point range and shoots 35.8 percent from the arc as a team.

If the Crusaders get solid contributions from the frontcourt -- obviously a huge if -- and can stay in the game early, they could pull an upset. Their three guards -- Hamilton, Keith Simmons and Torey Thomas -- have shown they can play with anybody. But if they are forced to play 3 on 5, it will be a very long night

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Longwood at Navy, 7:30 p.m.: The Lancers visit to Annapolis couldn't come at a better time for the Mids, who have dropped four straight since losing forward Matt Fannin to an injury. Longwood is in the third year of the five year process of moving from Division 2 to Division 1 and the transition has not been easy for its hoopsters, who come into this one 3-14, having lost 10 of their last 11 and yet to win in 8 road games. The Lancers have been giving up 81 points per game, allowing the opposition to shoot 48 percent from the field in the process.

None of this means Navy can afford to take them lightly. The Mids have done a little scuffling themselves of late, and Longwood's schedule has been pretty challenging, with Villanova, Kansas State, Nebraska among the bigger names they have lost to.
Longwood notes | Navy notes | USA Today matchup | Gametracker | Navy radio
Published at 8:31 AM by Hoop Time.
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