Game Story | Boxscore

By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer

Edmund Saunders battles for a rebound with Boston College's Troy Bell. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

BOSTON (AP) - Troy Bell scored 27 points and Xavier Singletary had 23 as Boston College beat No. 10 Connecticut, 85-68, on Wednesday (Jan. 3) for the Eagles' first victory over their BIG EAST rivals after 23 losses.

UConn (11-2, 0-1 BIG EAST) had not lost to BC (10-0, 1-0) since Feb. 2, 1988 - matching the longest winning streak for one BIG EAST team against another in conference history. Syracuse beat Seton Hall 23 consecutive times from 1982-92.

Boston College is off to its best start since winning 10 straight to open its Sweet 16 season of 1984-85. Students stormed the court after the game to celebrate the Eagles' first victory over a ranked opponent in two years.

Freshman Caron Butler had a career-high 29 points and 13 rebounds for UConn, which had won 10 in a row since losing to Dayton in the opening round of the Maui Invitational.

The Huskies took a 48-47 lead on Johnnie Selvie's three-point play with 14:01 to play. But they didn't make another field goal for 7:35 as the Eagles ran off 23 of the next 28 points to take a 70-53 lead.

Bell had seven points during the run, including two free throws after the UConn bench was called for a technical foul for complaining about a jump ball the Huskies thought should be a foul. Singletary had eight points in the run, hitting a pair of 3-pointers - the second giving BC a 68-52 lead with 7:29 left.