Miami Pulls Away From Eagles
Jan. 22, 2000
MIAMI (AP) – Mario Bland scored a career-high 24 points and had ninerebounds Saturday to lead Miami to a 62-54 win over Boston College.
After starting the season 5-5, the Hurricanes (11-7, 4-2 Big East) have wonsix of their last eight games. The loss extended the Eagles’ losing streak tofour games.
Leading by three at halftime, the Hurricanes started the second half on a9-0 run, extending its lead to 39-27. The Eagles (9-8, 1-4) cut the deficit to46-44 with 8:54 to play after Kenny Walls’ slam dunk, but it wasn’t enough.
That’s when Bland, who became the 23rd player in school history to surpass1,000 career points, took over. The senior scored four of the next six pointsfor Miami, upping the lead to 52-47.
Boston College never got any closer to the Hurricanes. Johnny Hemsley scored12 points and Vernon Jennings added 11 for Miami, which beat the Eagles for thefourth consecutive time.
A majority of Bland’s points were scored in the paint, where the Hurricanesoutsized the Eagles. Boston College also struggled shooting.
Miami held the Eagles to just 33 percent in the first half and it only gotworse. Boston College shot 7-for-26 (27 percent) in the second half and 30percent for the game.
Troy Bell, the second-leading scorer in the Big East, led the Eagles with 20points on just 4-for-15 shooting.
Because of a broken water line at Miami Arena, the game was moved to thenearby American Airlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat.
