Before practice on Tuesday, Wolff said Corey Lowe will play in BU’s next game against the University of Maine on Thursday (7 p.m. at Case Gymnasium), and has recovered quickly from what appeared to be a bad right ankle sprain in Saturday’s win over Iona.
Wolff said that Lowe was ‘fine,’ the swelling had been eliminated and the sprain was only a mild one. The junior guard shot around, but didn’t fully participate in the practice session.
Lowe is expected to run full speed Wednesday, though he appeared to be favoring the ankle a bit during shooting drills.
The announcement comes as a bit of a surprise given the average recovery time for a sprained ankle, as well as the previously presumed severity of the injury. But if he is healthy, getting Lowe back into form prior to the start of the America East Tournament could be a huge benefit for the Terriers.
Lowe has struggled in his last three outings, shooting a combined 6-of-27 (4-of-19 from 3-point range), and doesn’t appear to be in the same form he was when the Terriers won eight games in a row in late January into early February.
The manner in which the Newton native bounces back will have the biggest impact on the remainder of the Terriers’ season. If he’s able to return to form by the start of the tournament on March 6, BU will be far more capable of making a run at its first title since 2002.
‘Going forward, for us to play the way we want, we have to get Corey back on point, and we have to continue to be a little more efficient playing offense,’ Wolff said. ‘We also have to play defense the way we’ve played it the last two games, but without fouling.’
Pelage needs to unleash potential
At 6-foot-9, 240 pounds, freshman forward Jeff Pelage is one of the biggest post presences in the America East conference. Twenty-six games into his first season as a Division-I athlete, however, he hasn’t yet figured out how to use his body to maximize his potential.
Boston University men’s basketball coach Dennis Wolff has tried nonstop to make Pelage understand the amount of effort he needs to exert in order to perform at a higher level. Wolff said after BU’s most recent win against Iona College that Pelage has ‘tickled’ the coaching staff with flashes of his potential.
The Pompano Beach, Fla. native has responded to Wolff’s challenges of late, however, as he delivered his best performance of the season on Saturday (17 minutes, 9 points, 8 rebounds), and has turned in a number of impressive practices in a row.
‘He can give us a dimension that we haven’t had, but he hasn’t played hard enough and he doesn’t exert himself enough,’ Wolff said. ‘When he’s bending his knees, sitting down in the post, running hard, he’s more apt to be effective. When he’s playing straight up and not really going after it, he’s not.’
Although Pelage won’t become the team’s leading scorer with two games remaining, if he’s able to contribute positive minutes (and up his average of 11.3 per game) due to his recent string of strong play, it could aid the Terriers’ rebounding abilities and interior defense, and help avoid unnecessary fatigue on the starters.
America East Update
Only the Terriers have locked themselves into their seeding for next weekend’s competition in Albany, N.Y. The battle for the top seed is between Binghamton University (19-8, 12-3 America East) and the University of Vermont (22-7, 12-3). If Binghamton beats the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Thursday, the top seed is theirs for the first time in school history. If not, the Catamounts – ranked No. 22 in the mid-major national poll – will take the crown provided that they win their final game against Maine.
Stony Brook University is in good shape to capture the fourth seed at 7-7 in conference, but if they slip up, the seeding between the fourth and seventh spots could get dicey. The University at Albany, UMBC and the University of New Hampshire all have conference records of 6-8 with two games remaining. Maine could work its way up with wins in its final two games and a little help, but it is likely going to be the eighth seed. Hartford is virtually locked into the ninth spot a year after reaching the championship game.
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