TULSA, Okla. — Terrier fans couldn’t have asked for a better first half from the Boston University men’s basketball team in its first NCAA game in nine years. Senior forward John Holland netted 15 points, freshman forward Dom Morris knocked down a pair of big 3s and the 16th-seeded Terriers found themselves trailing top-seeded University of Kansas by just four points at the break.
Unfortunately for BU, the Jayhawks (33-2) hit their stride and started the second half on a 10-3 run. The Terriers (21-14) chipped away and managed to cut the lead to six with 10 minutes to go, but Kansas promptly answered with a 13-2 run and cruised the rest of the way to a 72-53 victory.
“I’m proud of our team. I’m proud of our guys,” said BU coach Patrick Chambers after the game. “They showed that we’re going to go out and play BU basketball for 40 minutes, and if that’s good enough, that’s great. If not, that’s OK, too. Kansas is terrific. They’re a well-balanced team and they can hurt you in many different ways, and that’s what happened on that little run.”
The Terriers started the game much like they started the America East championship game against Stony Brook University -cold. They hit just one of their first five shots, but then Holland (game-high 19 points) sank a 3-ball to tie the game at 5-5. Two possessions later, freshman point guard D.J. Irving (11 points, 6 assists) drove the lane and hit a layup to put BU in the lead.
Holland then answered a Tyrel Reed 3-pointer with another trey of his own to make it 10-8. The Jayhawks scored the game’s next six points, but they couldn’t pull away. Junior guard Darryl Partin (nine points) tied the game at 15 apiece with 9:04 left in the half and then Irving made a free throw 47 seconds later to give the Terriers what would be their last lead of the game.
Morris (nine points) silenced the largely pro-Kansas crowd twice in the final six minutes of the half with a pair of cold-blooded 3-pointers, the first to tie the game at 22-all and the second to pull BU within two with 1:10 to go. The Jayhawks threatened to up the lead to six before the break, but junior center Jeff Pelage came up with an emphatic block on Big 12 Player of the Year Marcus Morris (16 points, 9 rebounds) in the waning seconds.
Kansas coach Bill Self said his team played a little tight in the first half and missed some shots it usually makes, but he was quick to give most of the credit to BU for keeping the game as close as it was.
“I thought BU played very, very well,” Self said. “I thought they played great in the first half. … It certainly wasn’t one of the typical 1-16 matchups. I thought they were much better than that. I don’t think it was a reflection of our poor play.”
The second half was a different story, though. The Terriers struggled to make shots and the Jayhawks did a much better job of getting the ball down low to the Morris twins — Marcus and Markieff (15 points, 8 rebounds) — as the duo combined for eight points during Kansas’ 10-3 run to open the second.
“We had a lot of good shots in the first couple of minutes of the second half,” Irving said. “They just weren’t falling and they just went on a run. That’s what they do. That’s why they’re Kansas.”
Irving cut the lead to seven all by himself by getting to the line on two straight possessions and hitting four consecutive free throws. Two minutes later, Dom Morris sank his third 3-pointer of the game to pull the Terriers within six midway through the second.
That proved to be BU’s final gasp, though, as the Jayhawks scored 13 of the game’s next 15 points to take a commanding 60-43 lead with 6:50 to go. The run was highlighted by back-to-back-to-back 3’s from Brady Morningstar (13 points), Tyshawn Taylor (10 points) and Markieff Morris.
Kansas, to the surprise of no one, was simply too much for the Terriers, who got worn down in the second half.
“They’re so big and strong and physical, and they can hurt you in so many ways, that I think they wore us down about the 8-, 7-minute mark,” Chambers said. “You noticed our shots were short or long. They weren’t in-and-outs anymore. And we didn’t have those legs, other than D.J., to get by anybody and get to the basket. That’s what Kansas does to you.”
Chambers said his team has nothing to be ashamed of after Friday’s loss.
“I felt like we came in and truly believed in the game plan,” he said. “We truly believed in one another and we tried to compete. And I thought we competed for 40 minutes.”
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