The question lingered for most of Sunday’s first half at Case Gymnasium. How would the Boston University men’s basketball team solve the Northeastern University half-court trapping defense that forced BU to turn the ball over seven times and shoot just 33 percent over the first 20 minutes?
The answer – something which BU coach Dennis Wolff seems to have a lot of lately – was to turn up the tempo. The Terriers’ full-court pressure caused Northeastern fits in the second half and a 13-2 BU run over the first five minutes of the second frame to help the home team pull away with a 82-68 win over the Huskies.
“We made some hustle plays and we turned them over a little bit and the crowd got into it,” Wolff said. “They had 24 turnovers. It led to easy baskets and opened things up for us.”
The full-court pressure especially frustrated Northeastern sophomore standout Jose Juan Barea. The guard had four turnovers and just one assist in the second half before fouling out.
Sophomore guard Shaun Wynn, who had four steals in the second half, put the exclamation point on BU’s 13-2 run when he stole a lob pass by Barea and turned the jets on for the first dunk of his career, a one-handed slam over a stunned Barea.
Senior Jason Grochowalski (game-high 21 points) said those types of big plays are what Wynn has been doing all season long. That’s why he is Grochowalski’s favorite for America East Defensive Player of the Year.
“The kid is all over the place,” Grochowalski said. “We always tease him, he’s the kid who always tries to dunk and misses, but he went in there and just smashed it through and that just really got us excited.”
Wynn wasn’t the only player who was effective in the team’s full-court pressure. Senior guard Kevin Fitzgerald finished the game with three steals for BU.
Kevin Gardner grabbed two steals as well, none more impressive than the one he had with 11 minutes left. He picked off a pass from Barea, shoveled the ball up to Wynn who left it for Gardner to get off a full-extension slam that brought 1,738 fans to their feet.
Wolff couldn’t say which one of the many easy baskets scored in transition was the difference maker in the game.
“There were so many plays,” Wolff said. “I think we sustained a series of plays and that to me was what the turning point in the game was.”
Over the first 10 minutes of the second half, BU was able to score 11 points off steals from the pressure. The Huskies were also forced into foul trouble since they were always trying to catch up with the running Terriers. Northeastern’s Sylbrin Robinson – the team’s leading rebounder – eventually joined Barea on the bench with five fouls.
“The worst thing about turnovers is you try to scrap and get back and you foul. We got ourselves in foul trouble because we didn’t take care of the ball very well,” said Northeastern head coach Ron Everhart. “They forced us to play at a speed that we didn’t want to play at that particular time.”
The tired and foul-plagued Huskies were forced to play a more conservative defense in the second half. BU exploited Northeastern by patiently passing and setting screens to find the open man.
“We had a number of possessions where all five guys touched the ball prior to a shot going up, so it’s a pretty good way to play,” Wolff said.
Wolff was even more satisfied when he stepped back and looked at the big picture. His team has won 21 of 22 games and 10 in a row. The last three of that stretch have been against the three other top teams in the America East Conference. The reward is now sole possession of first place with two games to play.
However, just like in the second half Sunday, these Terriers seem to have no intention of slowing down.