A contest featuring arguably the two best players in America East would have been the perfect way for the conference to showcase itself in its first nationally-televised regular season game.
Unfortunately, sometimes the best-laid plans (and schedules) don’t work out. And instead of the University of Vermont’s Marqus Blakely and Boston University’s Corey Lowe squaring off at Agganis Arena on a national stage, only Blakely will take the court tonight at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
Lowe is out indefinitely, walking on crutches with bursitis in his right knee. And while fans may be disappointed that the marquee matchup didn’t come to fruition, the loss of Lowe impacts far more than entertainment value.
The 6-foot-2 guard is averaging 18.6 points per game, but more importantly, he takes 35.4 percent of BU’s shots — the ninth highest percentage in the nation. Because Lowe accounts for such a large majority of the Terriers’ offense, BU (5-13, 2-4) has struggled to find fluidity in its last two games, culminating in a dreadful 40-point effort against the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Tuesday.
Missing the Newton North graduate tonight does not bode well for a team in such a bad offensive funk. The absence of Lowe’s season-long ability to create is compounded by the inability of post players to score in the paint and sophomore guard Carlos Strong’s cold streak.
Strong has generated very little offense in his last four games, and seems hesitant to shoot. However, he and Lowe still account for over 62 percent of the team’s offense. Opponents have keyed in on the duo’s willingness to pull the trigger all year, sticking their best defenders on Lowe and Strong. And even with an offense that’s somewhat re-tooled from last season — now limiting post touches to just scoring opportunities — the points aren’t coming from any sources other than the perimeter.
Now even more of a burden will have to fall not only on Strong to come out of his slump, but also sharp-shooting co-captain Tyler Morris and sophomore forward Scott Brittain.
“It’s painful for us, right now, to score at times,” said BU coach Dennis Wolff. “If we can get Strong and Brittain going, then we give ourselves a chance.”
In contrast to BU’s struggling offense, Vermont (9-9, 4-2) features the top two scorers in the league — Blakely (18.8 points per game) and junior guard Mike Trimboli (19.0 ppg).
“We’re going to have to be able to guard those two without letting them have big games,” Wolff said.
After a freshman season in which Blakely didn’t start until the last third of the year, his name and game have jumped to the next level. The 6-foot-5 forward made his dramatic splash into popular culture after throwing down a Jordan-esque dunk over the University at Albany’s Brian Wilson in last year’s conference championship game. Blakely’s jam has garnered over 52,000 views scattered throughout seven videos on YouTube.
But Blakely does more than sky above the rim for dunks. He’s second in the conference with 8.6 rebounds per game and ranks 21st in the nation in blocks per game (2.5). The New Jersey native has the best field-goal percentage in the conference for any player with more than 100 shots (.555).
“The thing with Blakely is you’ve got to stay in contact with him and keep him off the glass,” Wolff said. “He’s very relentless in how he plays. I think he’s a little more mature and he’s having a good year.”
UVM will be missing one of its key players: co-captain Kyle Cieplicki. The redshirt-senior guard is averaging 10.0 points per game, and adds a dimension of confidence and experience to the team that trickles down through the younger players.
“They could be without Cieplicki, which hurts them,” Wolff said. “Of course, not having Corey hurts us.”