After an exasperating 21-point collapse and thrilling overtime victory against Hartford University, the first player Boston University men’s basketball coach Dennis Wolff praised was a name rarely heard outside the most dedicated fan circles.
‘I thought Sherrod Smith, for not having played at all all year, gave us great minutes,’ Wolff said.
Wolff was not exaggerating. Before Sunday’s game at Agganis Arena, the junior averaged merely two minutes a game with 18 minutes in nine appearances on the season, including a season-high of four on two occasions. In that time, he scored two points ‘-‘- on one fastbreak layup at Binghamton in January ‘-‘- with no free-throw attempts and no steals.
But after senior Matt Wolff went down hard early, and in anticipation of this weekend’s America East conference tournament, the coach turned to his bench for minutes in order to spell the starters. Freshman Jeff Pelage picked up two fouls and was taken out for Smith at the 9:37 mark of the first half.
By the halftime buzzer, Smith was on the floor for 10 minutes, five times his season average and more than 50 percent of his season total. Smith made the most of his time on the floor, converting 5-of-7 shots from the charity stripe. He also had two steals and would have had two more had he not been fouled beforehand.
At the 7:56 and 6:18 marks in the first half, Smith drew two fouls from Hawk sophomore Anthony Minor and matched his season high with two points on foul shots.
Less than a minute later, Sherrod had his first steal of the season from freshman Clayton Brothers, drawing contact for a pair of freebies. The two conversions gave Smith four points, establishing a season high and tying a career high in America East play.
Another steal and 1-of-2 trip to the charity stripe with two and a half minutes remaining in the frame by Smith gave the Terriers their largest lead of the game, 37-16, and capped a 28-5 BU run. The play also tied Smith’s career high in swipes and set a new season and America East points mark.
Smith finished the game with five points (all on free throws) and one missed shot from the field, a blocked layup. He also added his fourth defensive rebound of the year ‘-‘- all in 16 minutes of play. The game marked Smith’s best performance since his freshman year, when he registered eight points and 33 minutes at Harvard University in November 2006.
Despite the injury to Matt Wolff, and with BU’s playoff future secured, coach Wolff insisted that Smith was destined to appear against Hartford because of his impressive showing in practice.
‘Sherrod has played pretty well in practice, which is one of the reasons he got a chance to play in the game today,’ Wolff said, ‘I was going to get Sherrod in the game for sure.’
Smith did not let down his coach, proving himself through his aggressive play in an otherwise meaningless game. And with the conference tournament looming, we may not have seen the last of him this season.
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