The Boston University men’s basketball team had an easy day at the office Wednesday night, flying past the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, 91-65, in its home opener at Case Gym.
While many Terriers (2-0) contributed in the dominating victory, a large credit of thanks has to be directed to sophomore point guard Maurice Watson Jr.
In a game where offense was not hard to come by for the Terriers, Watson spent his 27 minutes on the floor weaving through the defense of the River Hawks (0-2).
Watson filled up the box score in the contest, as the Philadelphia, Pa., native finished with 18 points, seven assists and eight rebounds.
Watson demonstrated his passing abilities early on, dishing out two assists in the first three minutes of play. His second assist was a precise bounce pass off the dribble to senior forward Dom Morris, who converted a layup while being fouled.
The connection between those two players was particularly impressive throughout the game, as Morris finished with 27 points.
Watson capitalized on transition opportunities early. With 16 minutes to go in the first half, a steal by sophomore guard John Papale led to Watson hitting on a jumper on the fast break. Seconds later, Watson stole the ball in the backcourt before finding senior guard D.J. Irving for a lay-up.
BU’s star point guard was composed on offense throughout the night. With one minute remaining in the first half, Watson split through the perimeter of UMass-Lowell’s defense, driving to the rim before converting a layup.
Then, with less than 10 seconds remaining, Watson curled around a screen to drive to the rim. The guard made a hesitation move in the paint as he carved his way toward the basket, where he gently laid the ball into the net.
Overall, Watson played efficiently on the offensive end, shooting 8-of-12 from the floor, including 1-of-2 from behind the 3-point line.
Watson played a great game defensively as well with a leading role in the Terriers’ high-pressure defense. BU displayed an effective full-court press that persisted until the intermission. Within the first eight minutes of play, UMass Lowell committed seven turnovers.
“One of the things we try is to get things going in transition,” said BU coach Joe Jones. “We’re a pretty fast team. The fact that we could turn them over helped us get some layups in transition.”
The team as a whole was effectively aggressive on defense, forcing 22 turnovers from the River Hawks. Watson, however, was especially bothersome one-on-one against the UMass-Lowell guards.
“I just tried to play within our principles,” Watson said. “I don’t back down, I don’t fear anybody. I just wanted to keep [River Hawk guard Akeem Williams] contained.”
Watson was ultimately dominant in his assignment guarding Williams, UMass-Lowell’s leading scorer, ending the game with five steals.
Even as the outcome of the game became certain, the point guard showed maturity by keeping his team active. With four minutes left in the game, and with a 22-point Terrier lead, Watson again set Morris up for an easy layup attempt.
Watson has consistently seen his name appear on the stat sheets so far this season, as he is second on the team in both scoring (17.0 points per game) and rebounding (6.0), while leading the Terriers with 12 assists over the team’s first two games.
After the game, Watson said he was delighted with the team’s performance, especially with regards to the tempo at which they were able to play.
“I love these [fast paced] kind of games,” Watson said. “I hate when there’s a lot of free throws, a lot of stops and timeouts. Being able to run, get dunks, get the fans into it, you always want to play like that.”
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