Good teams win close games.
The Boston University men’s basketball team (11-7 overall, 5-1 America East) won a dogfight against Northeastern University (4-14 overall, 2-5 America East) on Sunday, 95-88, in front of a hostile crowd at Solomon Court.
“We were lucky and happy to come out of here with a win,” said BU coach Dennis Wolff.
The Terriers came into Sunday’s game rolling, winning their last three games. They also had a solid grasp on second place in America East behind the University of Vermont and were in possession of the only winning overall record in the conference.
BU started the game sluggish. The Terriers turned the ball over 11 times and managed to dig themselves a double-digit hole before intermission.
Freshman guard Chaz Carr led the way for the Terriers in the first half, tallying 12 points and three assists. He was a perfect three-for-three from the field and five-for-five from the free-throw line. Carr hit a jumper as time expired in the half, and the Terriers trailed by six points.
“I thought we started a little slow, but then we showed some character in the second half,” Wolff said.
But that would only be the beginning for Carr. The freshmen guard, who has done an excellent job this year filling in at the one and two guard spots for injured guard Matt Turner, torched the Huskies for a career-high 36 points.
Carr converted on nine-of-13 from the field, four-of-four from three-point territory and 14-of-17 from the charity stripe. He also led the team with five assists.
“I got some open looks and my teammates got me the ball,” Carr said. “I felt comfortable out there. I depend on my teammates and my teammates depend on me.”
The most important play of the game came with just over six seconds remaining in the game. The Terriers trailed 77-75. Wolff called timeout and ran an isolation play on the right side of the court for Carr to penetrate the Husky defense. Carr made the layup with 1.8 seconds left.
The Terriers carried the momentum from the second half into overtime and took a five-point lead early on junior forward and tri-captain Billy Collins’ three-pointer. BU would never look back.
“I thought Collins made a lot of good plays and [freshmen forward Rashad] Bell made plays,” Wolff said.
The Terriers were impressive overall. BU made 52 percent of their shots from the floor, including 57 percent of their three-point tries. The Terriers also shot 74 percent from the free-throw line.
It was the first time since the 1993-1994 season that the Terriers scored more than 90 points in back-to-back games and the first time in the Wolff era.
Collins recorded yet another double-double, tallying 18 points and 11 rebounds for the contest. Bell also scored in double-digits, tallying 14 points on five-of-nine from the floor.
BU showed a lot of poise down the stretch. Husky Jean Bain made several three-pointers late in the second half, but the Terriers were able to weather the storm and ride Carr to victory.
“We have some good freshmen in this league,” Northeastern head coach Ron Everhart said. “Chaz Carr is one of them. I thought BU did a good job in the second half of isolating us. They started attacking us. They sent Carr at us.”
With America East leader University of Vermont falling to Hartford University yesterday, BU is in control of its own destiny, as far as America East tournament seeding is concerned. The Terriers have fewer losses than the Catamounts but have played fewer games.
BU will resume America East competition on Thursday at the State University of New York at Albany. Wolff is optimistic about his team’s improvement.
“We’re going to take it one game at a time,” Wolff said. “We’re going to respect Albany this week. There’s nobody in this league that can’t beat anybody else.”
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