One night ‘-‘- January 19, 2009 ‘-‘- will forever link the current third and fourth place teams in the America East Conference. Just as the conference schedule was hitting its groove, the Boston University and Stony Brook University men’s basketball teams clashed over two halves and four overtimes in what turned out to be one of the greatest games in conference history.
The Seawolves are 5-3 since that epic 99-97 loss to the Terriers, and now ‘-‘- almost a month later on their home court, where BU is 4-2 ‘-‘- they are seeking retribution.
For the most part, that’s all that is at stake tonight at 7 p.m. While it’s true that Stony Brook (14-12, 6-7 AE) is just one place behind BU (14-11, 9-4) in the standings, they would have to win out, and the Terriers would have to go winless in their last three conference games to even get into a tiebreaker discussion.
Not that the Seawolves should be complaining. Though they dropped a five-point overtime contest to the University of Vermont last Sunday, SBU’s 14 victories mark its best start since joining the conference in 2001-02, and they are certainly capable of finishing in the top half of the league.
‘This isn’t a program with a ton of tradition,’ SBU coach Steve Pikiell said after the Jan. 19 loss. ‘We were Division III 10 years ago. We went Division I and kind of got behind the eight ball. I think we’re catching up in a hurry.’
While the Terriers have a long history, there are parallels between these teams. Of BU’s seven main rotation players, only two are seniors, while SBU plays just one senior. For both teams, that youth, on occasion, shows, though BU is by far the more veteran team.
‘The young guys, they have no problem with confidence,’ Pikiell said. ‘We’re a young team. We play one senior. We don’t have problems with confidence. Sometimes I have to calm them down a little bit.’
For the Terriers, the problem ‘-‘- the same as for the last three seasons ‘-‘- can be consistency. Against the now second-place Binghamton Bearcats (though they would win the conference if they win their remaining three league games) last Saturday, the Terriers had such a slow first half that they were almost run out of their own building before regrouping to take a one-point loss.
This year, some of that can be chalked up to tired legs ‘-‘- again that seven-man rotation ‘-‘- rather than immaturity, but the answers still lay in practice.
‘We need to practice better,’ BU coach Dennis Wolff said after the Binghamton game. ‘That’s what we need to do. You can’t all of a sudden think you’re going to turn it on on a night when you have a game. To me, and I know I’m old school, but you’re going to play the way you practice.’
However they practice and whatever their ages, the Terriers, against the squad that finished last in the conference each of the past two years, will be the experienced team tonight.
‘We weren’t even on the hill a couple of years ago,’ Pikiell said. ‘Now we’re on the hill, and we got to get over the hill.’
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