The scene was all too familiar Saturday afternoon at Case Gymnasium.
When the buzzer ended another tight game between the Boston University men’s basketball team and the University of Vermont, it was again the Catamounts who were leaping from their bench, waving towels and embracing in victory, while the Terriers were hanging their heads as they walked past the Vermont celebration and off the court.
Seconds before, with BU (11-4, 5-1 America East) trailing by two points, Vermont forward Taylor Coppenrath switched off his man and blocked a Chaz Carr three-point attempt in front of the BU bench to secure the Catamounts’ (9-5, 6-0) 59-57 win over the Terriers in front of 1,575 fans at “The Roof.” Carr’s attempt resurrected memories of last season’s America East Championship, won by Vermont 56-55, when a Carr three from the same spot bounced off the back of the rim as time expired.
“It just came down to a couple plays at the end, and unfortunately, they made them and we didn’t,” BU coach Dennis Wolff said after his team’s first loss in 12 games. “I thought it was a well played game. It’s just disappointing.”
Disappointing, because while this game ended as the last meeting did, it began quite differently. In the championship game, Vermont jumped out to an early lead before BU fought back after intermission. On Saturday, the Terriers played frontrunners in the first half, getting out on the fast break and leading by as many as 13 points. This time, the Catamounts were forced to come back, but again they made the big plays down the stretch. Vermont coach Tom Brennan talked about his team’s resilience after the win.
“The sense of where you’ve been, the sense of who you are is very important,” Brennan said. “These guys have been there and they really believe they’re going to win all the time. This is a very special team and they’ve done things that Vermont has never, ever anticipated.”
Vermont’s play revolved around Coppenrath, who entered the game as the third-leading scorer in the nation, averaging more than 24 points per contest. The junior forward played as well as advertised and was too much for the Terriers to handle, playing every minute and dropping 28 points on an array of inside moves and mid-range jumpers. Despite BU’s attempts to slow him down by throwing different defenders at him, Coppenrath had his way around the basket.
“Coppenrath was clearly the best player out on the floor, and whoever we had on him didn’t do a good enough job,” Wolff said. “We didn’t contest his shots nearly as much as we needed to.”
The Vermont junior admitted he was fatigued late in the game, but said he had enough to make the play that clinched the win.
“You’re trying to find it within yourself to come up with that energy,” Coppenrath said. “We were a little slow at first and then once we got into it, it was a battle until the end.”
A Coppenrath layup pulled the Catamounts to within one point with five minutes to play. On the ensuing BU possession, Carr knocked down three of his team-high 18 points to give BU a four-point advantage. Vermont then tied the game on its next two trips with a Scotty Jones inside hoop and two Coppenrath free throws.
The teams then traded baskets on three straight trips, with Ryan Butt scoring twice for the Terriers and Jones scoring again for Vermont. With BU up 57-55, Rashad Bell missed a jumper and then fouled Coppenrath on the other end. The junior hit both shots to tie the game with 2:16 remaining.
After a timeout, Matt Turner drove to the hoop down the right side of the lane, but dibbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds. On Vermont’s trip down the floor, who else but Coppenrath hit a short turnaround jumper to give the Catamounts the lead with 1:26 left. The teams wouldn’t score in the final 86 seconds, with Coppenrath denying Carr’s last attempt.
“[Vermont] deserves credit,” Wolff said. “They came in here and we had a great crowd today. This wasn’t an easy place to play. They made the plays they needed to make.
“My message to the guys was we just need to be a little bit tougher and make a couple more plays,” he added.
Brennan talked about his team again coming away with a big win at Case.
“This is the Promised Land for us,” he said. “This is where the greatest moment in history happened. I think the whole state has now rallied around us, so to be able to come down here and beat a great team on the road is just a wonderful win, very satisfying.
“But, the one thing I told the kids was that either we leave here a game up or a game back. That’s all it is.”
Watching both teams’ reaction after the final buzzer, this was more than just one game in the standings.