Just a meaningless regular season game with no playoff implications?
Yeah, right.
The atmosphere at yesterday’s 76-65 Boston University victory over Northeastern University belied any notion that the game was merely a tune-up for the upcoming America East tournament.
In what was probably the most hostile environment they have faced all season, the Terriers prevailed despite the taunts of Northeastern’s male cheerleaders, football players and various grown men with painted faces.
Many of the crowd’s comments were saved for sophomore forward Rashad Bell, who responded by scoring a career-high 26 points, including a nearly perfect 10-11 performance from the free throw line. Bell has had his two highest career scoring games against the Huskies this season, scoring 24 the first time, and credited the atmosphere for his success.
‘I think it’s their football players heckling me,’ Bell said. ‘They get me really riled up and I just want to shut them up.’
He was able to do just that, as he led a late 18-3 run, which turned a three-point deficit into a comfortable lead.
Until the final minute though, it was tough for anyone to keep the Huskies’ faithful quiet. They were involved from the beginning, when NU’s lone senior, Jamar Walker, was honored at his last home game. It would have been a far busier ceremony had it been Junior College Transfer Night, since the Huskies have six JUCO’s on their current roster.
Senior Billy Collins was the subject of the most attention from NU fans, who were on him from the time he first walked on the court for the shootaround. Chants of ‘Alcoholic’ didn’t seem to distract Collins, as he finished with nine points and nine rebounds. In the first half, he made a three-pointer, right in front of the NU student section, which extended BU’s lead to 32-20. He immediately turned and looked at the fans after making his shot.
In the second half he slammed home any chances of a Huskies comeback with an authoritative two-handed dunk with two minutes remaining.
At NU’s tiny Solomon Court, the crowd is right on top of the game and added an extra dimension to an already competitive and heated rivalry. The Terriers were able to feed off that energy and use it to their advantage.
‘I was hyped up because of the atmosphere and the crowd,’ Bell said. ‘The crowd gets me hyped.’
‘It’s a great rivalry we’ve got going,’ senior Paul Seymour said. ‘We know we’re going to get their best effort every time we step on the court.’
The 6-foot 6-inch Seymour controlled the first half, exploiting a mismatch against 5-foot 11-inch Northeastern freshman Jose Juan Barea. Seymour used his height advantage to pour in 14 first-half points en route to a season-high 21.
Seymour and Barea became reacquainted with 3:46 to go in the game, when they bumped into each other while walking to their respective benches. A shoving match followed and both teams met in front of the Terriers bench as the two were being separated. Both coaches were irate and yelling at the officials while trying to calm down their players.
While this was the pinnacle of the competitive nature of the game, BU head coach Dennis Wolff and his players considered it an anomaly, and not indicative of any dislike between the two teams.
Seymour, who shook hands with Barea following the game, shrugged it off, saying simply, ‘sometimes that stuff happens,’ particularly in such an intense contest.
‘It’s a healthy rivalry based on respect,’ Wolff said. ‘There’s no dislike, it’s a heated game, their kids played hard, our guys played hard.’
And Northeastern wants to leave all of this behind to join the Colonial Athletic Association?
Games like yesterday, with a raucous 1,820 people on hand, will be replaced with games against Wagner and Towson. Don’t count on seeing NU students arrive two hours before tip-off for any CAA games next season, like they did for yesterday’s match-up.
From the outset, it was clear that this game was going to be like any BU-NU game, regardless of the stakes. In the opening minutes, Wolff nearly received a technical for screaming about the lack of a foul call, and then again when the referees missed a textbook backcourt violation call.
The coaches calmed down, to a degree, and the Terriers were able to go on their way, winning one of their most impressive games of the season, considering the circumstances.
With Seymour’s outside shooting and Bell’s free throw shooting and inside presence on both ends, the Terriers were able to avenge their only America East home loss of the season, in enemy territory.
Bell gave the latest evidence that he belongs on the America East first team, and should even garner some Player of the Year votes.
But yesterday, as he walked out of Solomon Court and toward the team bus, in untied Timberlands, his shorts and warm-up jacket, his thoughts quickly turned to the pouring rain outside. Bell pulled his warm-up over his head and made his way toward the bus quickly, cursing the rain.
It was the only thing that fazed him all day.