 Jared Dudley lets his excitement show after drawing a crucial foul in overtime of the Eagle's victory over the Miami Hurricanes.
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TAMPA, FLA. - Tyrese Rice knew he had to do something.
With Boston College down by 14 points to the University of Miami early in the second half, and Jared Dudley still without a field goal, Rice willed the Eagles back into the game with an array of clutch shots. With 32 seconds left in regulation, he delivered the final blow of the comeback with a 3-pointer to tie the score 64-64, sending the game to overtime.
"We were kind of down on defense, down on offense, we weren't really going the way we could. I just felt like I needed to create a little bit more for my team and it worked out," said Rice, who was 9-14 from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range for a career- high 32 points.
Dudley had to solve Miami's defense in one key moment to earn his team the victory. The ACC Player of the Year converted a three-point play after hitting a layup in between two Miami defenders to put BC ahead for good as the fourth-seeded Eagles (20-10, 10-6) escaped the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament with a thrilling 74-71 victory over the 12th-seeded Hurricanes (12-20, 4-12) at the St. Pete Times Forum.
"You could throw stats out when it comes to me," said Dudley, who had just 12 points in the contest. "I'm all about just wins, and now we get to play another game."
After losing four of their last five, the Eagles seemed destined to follow the same blueprint of their recent losses with Dudley's struggles and a large, seemingly insurmountable deficit early in the second half.
Facing a confident Miami team that had upset fifth-seeded Maryland the day before further compounded the issue for the BC.
This time, however, the Eagles did not fold.
Fighting to overcome a 10-point deficit throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Eagles finally cut the lead to single digits with a 5-0 run, capped off by Rice's three at 6:04 to cut the Miami lead to 58-53.
Spring Break
