Now comes the real test.
Having embarked on a four-game winning streak against what are now the America East conference’s bottom-four squads, the Boston University men’s basketball team (9-14, 6-5 AE) must now see if their resurgent play can stand strong in the face of the second-place University of Vermont (12-11, 7-4) tonight at 8:00 p.m in Burlington.
The Catamounts ran away from the Corey Lowe-less Terriers in a 70-57 win at Agganis Arena on Jan. 25. But Vermont was in the midst of a five-game winning streak, while the loss was BU’s eighth of its last ten outings.
“Our guys felt we could have played a better game the first game [against Vermont],” said BU coach Dennis Wolff.
The tables have since turned.
Following the win spurred by super-sophomore Marqus Blakely (17 points, 18 rebounds) and fifth-year senior Kyle Cieplicki (11 points, two game-clinching 3’s) and an 81-76 win over Hartford, the Catamounts dropped two of their next three. The Terriers, on the other hand, haven’t tested losing waters since Blakely rumbled Agganis with a jam.
The Terriers have momentum in their pockets, but the magnitude of this game is not lost on anyone. Despite the difference in the standings, a BU win would bring both teams into a dead-heat with five losses apiece.
“Everyone is bunched up and everyone realizes there is significance in getting wins the last two or three weeks of the season,” Wolff said.
This time around the conference carousel, BU will have the services of Lowe (18.1 ppg) — the leading scorer that may not have to score as much anymore. Sitting for much of the first half against Binghamton University (10-14, 6-6), Lowe watched as his teammates came back from an eight-point deficit to take a three-point lead into the break. Coming out in the second half, Lowe (six assists and one turnover) blended into the team’s aggressiveness and created plays for everyone else, constantly taking his man off the dribble and dishing off when the defender came to help in the lane.
“He did a good job of taking what the defense was giving him,” Wolff said. “Some of the changes we’ve made [to the offense] have now put him in positions where he can drive guys without everyone standing in the lane.”
But even with Lowe — and without sophomore Carlos Strong, out with a meniscus tear in his knee — the Terriers will still have to manage the top-two scorers in the conference, Blakely (18.9 ppg) and junior guard Mike Trimboli (18.6 ppg). While Trimboli had a relatively quiet night against Vermont in January with 12 points, Blakely’s aforementioned 18 boards kept the number of BU possessions down. No other Catamount had more than five rebounds, but Vermont held a 40-32 advantage on the boards. For a Terrier team 5-1 in conference when they out-rebound their opponent, it becomes quite clear who the focus is.
“[Blakely’s] a very good offensive rebounder and he’s a quick second jumper,” Wolff said. “We’re going to try and fundamentally do things better.”
It’s not just the fundamentals BU will want to do better on Blakely.
The conference Rookie of the Week for back-to-back weeks, John Holland — coming off a career-high 25 points against Binghamton — continued his upward trend facing off with Blakely in Jan., contributing 13 points and seven rebounds. But in that game, an attempted dunk over the prolific Vermont forward clanged off the rim, and Blakely got his sure-fire revenge later in the game — leading Holland to say this after the game:
“You always feel bad when someone gets you like that,” he said. “Maybe I’ll try to get him back next time.”
Four wins later, it might be hard to believe Holland or the Terriers have hard feelings, but with so much conference mojo on the line, No. 5 would just be that much sweeter.
“You win four games in a row everyone is feeling better than they did two weeks ago,” Wolff said yesterday.
