By now, it’s no secret. The Boston University men’s basketball team can shoot the 3-ball.
Roughly 47 percent of BU’s field goal attempts have come from beyond the arc (192-of-409), and the Terriers have connected on 40.1 percent of their shots from downtown – a mark that ranks 36th in the nation (six percent higher than the national average).
‘We have five kids that are real good 3-point shooters,’ BU coach Dennis Wolff said. ‘From a technical standpoint, for our personnel, we’re running the right stuff and we’re getting good shots.’
‘It seems like they make every single one of them,’ Yale (BU’s opponent Wednesday night) coach James Jones said of the Terriers’ 3-point attempts. ‘Looking at last year’s tape, especially guarding Corey Lowe – he can shoot the ball from anywhere and you have to be ready to contest his shot because he makes contested shots from all over the place. If your hands are down by your wayside, you might as well count the goal.’
There’s little doubt this is BU’s best offensive team in the last three seasons, but what’s hampered the Terriers thus far has been the trade the improved offense has seemed to make with a historically staunch defense.
The new balance has BU sitting at 4-3 with Wednesday night’s contest against the Bulldogs (2-5) at Case Gymnasium (7 p.m.) providing a chance for the Terriers to continue their streak of winning their next game following a loss. If they hope to do so, Wolff needs to see improvement on the defensive end.
Through seven games, BU is allowing opponents to convert 45.8 percent of their field goals (51 percent of their 2-point field goals) – three points higher than the national average.
‘All the principles that I’ve prided this program on – there has been a little bit of an erosion. ‘We’re better offensively than we’ve been, but we’re not as gritty as we need to be on defense,’ Wolff said.
Wolff has been a defense-first coach in all 15 years at the helm, but this year, BU’s defensive intensity has taken a hit ‘-‘- whether it be because of a reliance on a talented offensive attack to bail out spotty guarding or, as Wolff described, a lack of grit.
‘From when I first got the job here until now, I’m of the opinion that the only way you win consistently is by playing good defense. Somehow we have to get that message through to them,’ Wolff said.
Following an emotional practice Monday – during which players were surrendering their bodies for possession of rebounds and to corral turnovers – it seemed as though Wolff’s comments got through to the exhausted group. BU’s effort against Yale will go a long way toward determining if the coach’s words actually did.
While parts of the defense have been weaker than others, it was BU’s interior that struggled most against Marshall. Fortunately for Yale, the Bulldogs’ biggest strength is their frontcourt.
‘[BU’s] weaker point may be what we do anyway,’ Jones said. ‘Our strength is our post play, so that’s something that we try to do every game. We are not a great perimeter shooting basketball team. Our bread is going to be buttered inside the paint.’
Senior Ross Morin will present the biggest threat to BU’s interior, as he leads the Bulldogs in rebounds per game (5.7) and ranks second on the team in scoring (12.6 points per game). To combat Yale’s forwards, Wolff would like to use a combination of junior Scott Brittain and freshman Jeff Pelage, but both have yet to meet expectations in practice.
‘I think he’s ready,’ Wolff said of Pelage. ‘He needs to come [to practice] every day and put the right amount of work in to get into the games, and then I’m very confident that he can help us.’
Improved play from the bigs would significantly bolster BU’s inside presence and could help bring the program’s defense back where it belongs.
News & notes: Yale leads the all-time series against BU, 2-1, but the Terriers won the most recent meeting last year, 76-67. In that game, Lowe scored a then-career-high 35 points. ‘hellip; Speaking of Lowe, he needs 22 points to reach 1,000 for his career at BU after a career-high 36-point performance Saturday. ‘hellip; Junior guard Alex Zampier is Yale’s leading scorer, averaging 16.7 points per game. ‘hellip; Yale is the second of three Ivy League teams the Terriers play this season. BU already defeated Harvard and will face Cornell University on Dec. 29.
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