Jan. 17, 2006

Boston College made history with its last win. Senior Craig Smith tries to make some more when the 21st-ranked Eagles meet a familiar opponent in Holy Cross at the Hart Center.

Smith is two points shy of becoming the fifth player in school history to reach the 2,000-point mark, with Troy Bell (2,632 points), Dana Barros (2,342), Bill Curley (2,102) and Danya Abrams (2,053) being the others.

If Smith reaches the milestone Tuesday, it will be in his 111th game. Only Bell (98 games) and Barros (105) did it in fewer games. Smith leads the team this season with 17.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

The Eagles (12-4) have won 14 of the last 15 meetings with the Crusaders, but Holy Cross holds a 57-51 all-time edge in a series that dates to 1906.

Boston College, which started 0-3 in its inaugural season in the ACC after migrating from the Big East, notched its first league win with a 90-87 victory over Florida State on Saturday.

Smith had 28 points and 14 rebounds, and Jared Dudley added 25 points and six boards. Boston College shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field and made a season-high 85.2 percent (23-of-27) from the free-throw line.

The win came at a critical time for the Eagles, who begin a stretch of seven straight games against conference opponents on Saturday, including playing at No. 24 North Carolina on Jan. 25 and hosting top-ranked Duke on Feb. 1.

"It was bothering us," Smith said of ACC losses to Maryland, Georgia Tech and North Carolina State. "It (stinks) not to have a win in your conference. We got one today and we're feeling a little bit better."

Louis Hinnant added 12 points and six assists for Boston College, which outscored Florida State 56-49 in the second half after trailing by as many as 11 points in the early going and 38-34 at halftime.

Boston College coach Al Skinner was pleased with how the Eagles responded against a tough Seminoles team that entered with an 11-2 mark.

"We didn't lose our composure," Skinner said. "We just settled down. We didn't at all panic. From a mental standpoint, guys weren't down on themselves."

Holy Cross' 15-game Patriot League winning streak was snapped in a 56-42 loss to Bucknell on Saturday. Kevin Hamilton had 18 points and Keith Simmons added 12, but the Crusaders made just 3 of 17 shots (17.6 percent) in the first half and trailed 34-14 at intermission.

Holy Cross (9-8) had not lost a league game since last Jan. 8, when it also fell to Bucknell, 59-43. The league-record winning streak is 16 games, set by Navy in 1998.

Hamilton, who scored a career-high 38 points in an 82-65 win over Chattanooga on Dec. 19, leads the team with a 16.8 scoring average this season.