March 3, 2004

Box Score

BOSTON (AP) - Craig Smith scored 17 points to lead Boston College to a 68-54 victory over St. John's on Wednesday night, giving the Eagles' their third 20-win season in four years.

Uka Agbai had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles (20-8, 9-6 Big East). Jared Dudley scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

BC, which barely missed the NCAA tournament last season, finishes its regular season at Providence on Saturday.

Daryll Hill led St. John's (6-20, 1-14) with 24 points. It was the Red Storm's fifth straight loss, and dropped them to 0-8 in league road games.

St. John's senior guard Andre Stanley missed his second straight game. He was declared academically ineligible before Sunday's loss to Providence.

The game was tied at 43 after Hill hit the second of two free throws with 14:33 to play, but the Eagles took charge with a 12-3 run over the next six minutes.

BC pushed the lead to 48-43 on Smith's fastbreak layup. After Hill's 3-pointer, the Eagles scored seven straight points.

St. John's was never closer than six points the rest of the game.

The Eagles, who led 33-31 at halftime, closed the first half with an 18-5 run.

St. John's, which had just four scholarship players and eight total available, had opened an 11-point lead and led for most of the first half.

Earlier Wednesday, an attorney for suspended St. John's center Abraham Keita said the player received $300 almost every month from a member of the team staff since 1999. The attorney also said Keita was filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the school, claiming he was "an unworthy recipient of racially disparate disciplinary treatment."

St. John's issued a statement Wednesday night saying the school was surprised by the allegations about the payments and that it would begin an investigation. St. John's also called the racial discrimination charge "simply not true."