Texas Tech, B.C. seek consistency

By The Associated Press     Mar 15, 2007

? Texas Tech beat some of the nation’s top teams and made Bob Knight the winningest men’s basketball coach in Division I history. Along the way, the Red Raiders also threw in a few puzzling losses.

Meanwhile, Boston College undermined its solid regular season by stumbling into the NCAA Tournament.

That kind of inconsistency has reduced both teams to talking optimistically about starting fresh when they play today in the first round of the East Regional. And it’s made it hard to know exactly what to expect from them.

“I think it’s (true of) most teams in college basketball today,” Boston College coach Al Skinner said Wednesday. “That’s what the sport is. There’s enough talent throughout college basketball that those things are going to happen. It’s proven night in and night out in our league. Some nights you get it going more than other nights.

“I don’t think it concerns anyone in the tournament right now about what’s happened previously. Everyone’s starting off on the same slate.”

Seventh-seeded Boston College (20-11) has lost five of seven, which included double-digit losses to NCAA teams North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. That skid cost the Eagles any lingering chance to catch the Tar Heels for the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title.

At least some of those struggles can be attributed to the losses of center Sean Williams and forward Akida McLain, who were dismissed from the team in January for an unspecified violation of team rules. Still, it was a frustrating way to finish for a team led by veterans Jared Dudley and Sean Marshall that has reached the NCAA tournament four straight seasons.

Tenth-seeded Texas Tech (21-12) has had its ups and downs since January, starting with a 73-70 loss to lowly Baylor.

Texas Tech followed that loss by beating Kansas, an eventual No. 1 seed, and Texas A&M – then followed with five straight losses that put its tournament hopes in jeopardy. But in another befuddling result, Texas Tech ended that streak by beating Texas A&M again, this time on the road.

“There are up-and-down seasons,” Texas Tech junior Martin Zeno said. “But if you finish strong and have a good end to your season, then that’s all in the past.”

So where does that leave the Red Raiders? Even coach Knight didn’t sound so sure when asked what he likes about his team.

“Let me tell you what I don’t like about them,” Knight said. “Our team hasn’t had great consistency and yet we have played really well at times. And I would like to see us be better.”

Both teams certainly have the talent to make the matchup entertaining. Texas Tech senior Jarrius Jackson averaged a Big 12-best 20.2 points to earn all-conference honors, while the 6-foot-5 Zeno averages 16.5 points to lead an undersized front line against the physical Eagles.

For Boston College, the 6-7 Dudley was named ACC player of the year after averaging 19 points per game. The Eagles also have perimeter balance with sophomore Tyrese Rice (17.2 points) and Marshall (14.8 points).

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