By Anthony Bosco
Of course that is a long way off and Agbai's team suffered its first loss of the season last Wednesday when the Eagles were shot down by the St. John's Red Storm at Madison Square Garden, 73-71. Still, the 6-foot-8, 245-pound sophomore is confident his team will rebound from the setback, with himself right in the mix doing the grunt work.
“We pretty much lost it in the first half,” Agbai said after the game. “It's very disappointing. We thought we'd be able to come in here and beat them.”
In the game, Agbai had what has become a typical performance for the Queens Villaga resident. Despite a slow start he finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 34 minutes with most of his work done under the boards against the Red Storm's biggest players.
Coming into the game Agbai was averaging 9.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game and led the Eagles in field goal percentage with .603. His scoring is up from last season, when he averaged 6.6 points per game, but his rebounds are way down this year at 3.0 per game, something Agbai attributes to his new role of “doing the dirty work.”
Though he plays against opposing centers and would typically be called upon to carry the rebounding load, Agbai instead has taken on the job of clearing out the paint, letting no less than seven of his teammates average more rebounds per game than himself.
The loss of individual stats, however, does not seem to bother him.
“I think my season's going well,” Agbai said. “I'm scoring a lot more than last year.”
Coming out of high school Agbai was already a well-rounded player, if a bit undersized in his upper body for the rough and tough Big East. As a senior with Molloy, Agbai averaged 13.6 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.0 and was an all-city selection. As it turned out, he did not need that much time to adjust to the college game.
Last season Agbai was a quiet presence around the basket, but was producing the numbers. In his very first game he played only 15 minutes, but scored 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting. His playing time steadily increased as the season wore on, cracking into the starting lineup on a Boston College team that finished 11-19.
He bulked up in the off-season, giving his body and game an overhaul, as well as growing out his once close-cropped hair. Now, like the Eagles team itself, Agbai is a whole new animal.
“I think Uka is definitely improving,” said Boston College coach Al Skinner. “We're very happy. He's put in a lot of hours training to get better. He's made himself into quite a player and competitor in this league.”
His new game became apparent right away against St. John's, as he blocked Anthony Glover's first shot which enabled the Eagles to come down and take a 3-0 lead on Kenny Walls three-pointer.
Agbai briefly had to come out of the game in the first half when St. John's forward Donald Emanuel took a swipe at a rebound Agbai had corralled and caught him in the eye, briefly blinding the sophomore.
“I got hit in the eye early and had to come out of the game because I couldn't see,” he said, though he returned quickly enough. “We went at them hard.”
Both teams battled on even terms for much of the game, swapping the lead several times in the second half. St. John's, however, had the final run, handing BC its first loss of the season.
But the team and Agbai bounced back well from the loss, beating the Miami Hurricanes for the second time this season, 82-73 Saturday, raising the team's record to 12-1. Agbai finished with modest stats – four points and two rebounds – but he played a solid 36 minutes and again did the quiet, unrewarded work for his team.
As for the rest of the season, Agbai is optimistic the Eagles will be in the hunt for the Big East title and beyond.
“I think the Big East is pretty much wide open,” he said.
And so is the area under the basket, at least with Agbai on the floor.
