The Terriers had long awaited Saturday, their first chance to test themselves against a member of the America East Conference the league’s coaches unanimously picked them to win.’
But in just a few short hours at Case Gymnasium, Stony Brook University made it an afternoon to forget for the Boston University men’s basketball team.
Sophomore guard Bryan Dougher scored 21 of his career-best 30 points in the second half and the Seawolves connected on 12-of-20 3-point attempts in an 84-75 victory over the Terriers that marked the conference opener for both squads.
Sophomore forward Jake O’Brien posted a career-high 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds for BU (5-8, 0-1 AE), which dropped its second contest in five days following a three-game winning streak. Junior forward John Holland and senior guard Tyler Morris chipped in 17 and 12 points, respectively, but the Terriers could not overcome the struggles of senior guard Corey Lowe (3-for-16 from the field) and the Seawolves’ 48 percent shooting.
‘We took a little bit of a step back today,’ BU coach Patrick Chambers said. ‘We’ve got to play better defense. You’re not going to win games trying to outscore teams. This was the second game in a row that we came out with no intensity. We didn’t come out with a sense of urgency, and Stony Brook took it to us.’
Sophomore forward Tommy Brenton (15 points, 11 rebounds) and senior guard Muhammad El-Amin (23 points, 8 rebounds) excelled in support of Dougher (career-best 8 3s), helping the Seawolves (9-5, 1-0) secure their first-ever win in nine regular-season games at The Roof.
‘I had guys come out ready for war,’ Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell said. ‘We played a real good team in BU and it was a dogfight. We’re lucky to come out with a win, but I think we earned it, too.’
Neither squad led by more than seven points during the opening half, with Stony Brook taking a 41-37 advantage into the intermission. The Seawolves held an early 10-3 edge thanks to Brenton and El-Amin, who torched the Terriers in the first period for a combined 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting.
The America East’s leading rebounder with a 9.4 per-game average entering Saturday, Brenton showcased his trademark aggressiveness with a posterizing dunk over O’Brien four minutes into the game. Brenton finished five assists shy of a triple-double.’
‘He played like an assassin,’ Chambers said of the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Brenton. ‘Man, he was hungry, he was physical, he was tough, and he wanted the ball. He’s a tremendous player. Especially in this league, you need kids like that.’
BU used a 9-3 run fueled by Holland and O’Brien (16 first-half points) to build a 23-16 cushion with 12:16 left in the first session, but the Terriers relinquished their 32-31 lead at 4:04 on a Dougher 3 that put the Seawolves ahead to stay. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
‘We knew Dougher was a good 3-point shooter, but we lost him a few times,’ Chambers said. ‘They got some offensive rebounds, made some extra passes, and he got some good looks.’
A 3 from O’Brien (career-high 6 treys) pulled BU within four at 56-52 with 11:04 to go in regulation. Dougher, however, responded with two triples of his own to give Stony Brook a double-digit pad of 62-52.
‘I’ve been getting in a little extra shooting before games,’ Dougher said. ‘Today, they were falling.’
They weren’t falling nearly as often for Chambers’ team, as the Terriers shot 38 percent from the floor (26-for-69) and converted 13 of a program-record 37 attempts behind the 3-point arc.
‘The type of team we need to become is the team that defends and rebounds and doesn’t worry about making or missing shots,’ Chambers said. ‘We need to keep grinding it out, getting rebounds, putting the ball inside, and driving the ball. I’m very disappointed that we shot 37 3s. We’ve got to get to the line more.
‘We have to make more toughness plays.’
The Seawolves twice carried leads of a game-high 16 points, the latest coming with 3:37 remaining. Fittingly, Dougher supplied the backbreaking score on both occasions.
Morris’ layup with 25 seconds left trimmed Stony Brook’s edge to 83-75, but Dougher put the finishing touches on BU five seconds later with a free throw that cemented the final margin.
‘We were kind of up and down the whole game, and that’s the way we’ve been throughout the season,’ Lowe said. ‘We hit a down point and things kind of got out of control. They played hard and kept at a consistent pace, and we didn’t.
‘It was just one of those days, I guess.’
Chambers agreed.
‘Like I tell these guys all the time, we’ve got to keep tapping at the stone,’ he said. ‘If we keep tapping, we’re going to get there. We have work to do, there’s no denying that. I never said we were there, but we’re going to get there. I can promise you that.’
Game notes: Lowe tallied nine points, making 1-of-9 shots from 3-point range. ‘hellip; The Seawolves outrebounded the Terriers, 39-38. ‘hellip; BU begins a stretch of seven road games in nine contests Thursday when it visits the University of New Hampshire for a 7 p.m. bout at Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, N.H.
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