When the Boston University men’s basketball team played the University of Maine last Thursday at Case Gymnasium, the Terriers took the court with a different starting lineup. Four of the Terriers primary starters of the 2011-12 season sat on the bench, with only sophomore forward Travis Robinson remaining from the usual starters for the tip-off.
“I felt like some other guys, you know, in practice and in games, were doing a good job and it was something I thought was needed,” said BU coach Joe Jones after his team’s 64-57 win over the Black Bears.
In the press conference, and again in a break from practice on Tuesday, Jones cited a lack of effort in his decision to bench the quartet. But despite the better effort – and a win – Jones isn’t sure if he’ll stick with the same lineup in the team’s game versus the University of New Hampshire Wednesday night.
“I haven’t come to that decision yet,” Jones said. “Another practice, I’ll watch some more film and we’ll make that decision when we get to it.”
If he does make the change, he might revert back to the lineup that lacked effort in two games in the week prior to Maine, a loss to the University of Vermont and a comeback win over the University at Albany.
“We’ve got to do a much better job at [starting games],” Jones said. “I thought we did against Maine, but the two prior games before that, the Albany game and the Vermont game, we did not.
“We were better on the road at Binghamton and I think we were better against Maine at home,” he said. “I think we did a better job. It’s a long season. Sometimes those things happen. I don’t think it is a tendency of ours to not come out ready.”
After finding success in the game against Maine – and going above the .500 mark for the first time this season – the Terriers (14-13, 10-3 America East) will face the Wildcats (10-14, 5-8 America East) on Wednesday night at Case in a rematch of one of BU’s closest games of the season.
Looking at New Hampshire, the Wildcats currently on their first win streak of the season after beating Albany 69-64 last Thursday at home, and then traveling to the Mid-Atlantic on Sunday to beat the University of Maryland-Baltimore County 66-60.
Additionally, in its last ten games, New Hampshire has gone 5-5, doubling its season win total and picking up all of its America East victories.
Senior guard Alvin Abreu leads UNH in scoring with an average of 13.9 points per game. Junior guard Chandler Rhoads and sophomore forward Patrick Konan are the only other Wildcats in double figures in that category, scoring an average of 11.3 and 10.1 points per game, respectively. As a team, the Wildcats have shot 40.6-percent from the field.
On the defensive end, the Wildcats are one of the best teams in the country at defending beyond the arc, forcing Wildcats’ opponents to move inside for two-point shots. According to figures from KenPom.com, only 23.5 percent of field goal attempts against the Wildcats originate outside of the arc, making them ninth in the nation and first in the conference.
Furthermore, according to BasketballState.com, 19.3 percent of opponents’ points come from 3-pointers, putting the Wildcats in similar national and regional rankings.
“The thing that they do is they have four guys that can all guard the perimeter,” Jones said. “They switch some things, one through four, so you can’t get all three and they really do a good job of getting out and contesting [3-point shots].”
The last time BU and UNH met, on Jan. 19 in Durham N.H., the Terriers emerged with a close 52-50 victory. Senior guard Darryl Partin led BU with 20 points and sophomore guard D.J. Irving had 13.
Abreu scored 16 points for the Wildcats with Konan right behind him at 15 points.
The 52 points were the least scored by a BU team since 2005. The Terriers had 16 turnovers in the game and only five assists.
In the final seconds of the game, the Wildcats could have made a 3-pointer to win, but Konan came up short.
Jones believes the game was influenced by the Wildcats methodical, time-consuming style of play.
“They play at a slow tempo,” Jones said. “They play a slow tempo because they really guard you and they run their stuff through. They tend not to take quick shots because they run their stuff through and then they score.”
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