M. bball tops Maine in postseason tune-up

On the second-to-last night of games in the America East Conference’s regular-season schedule, the Boston University men’s basketball team played an insignificant game, at least as far as standings go. The Terriers locked up the third seed in the conference last Wednesday, and the University of Maine’s chances of moving out of the cellar were slim.

However, what began as a relatively meaningless evening turned into quite a significant one for the Terriers.

Not only did BU’s 76-65 victory over Maine (9-19, 4-11 AE) in the Terriers’ final regular-season game at Case Gymnasium mark the 1,000th victory in program history, but sophomore forward John Holland scored his 500th point of the season (and ended up with 510 thanks to a game-high 20), making him the second player in BU coach Dennis Wolff’s 15-year tenure to accomplish the feat.

On a different, and perhaps more important level, the Terriers (16-12, 10-5) delivered one of their best collective efforts of the season, especially given their sporadic play of late.

Holland finished the game with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, while freshman forward Jeff Pelage battled his way to a career performance with a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double.

In addition, freshman Jake O’Brien, who was playing on a sprained left ankle, finished one board shy of a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds. After stepping on another players’ foot in practice Tuesday, O’Brien’s status was in question prior to the game, but wearing a brace, the rookie showed no ill effects, shooting 7-of-12 from the field (including two 3-pointers and a two-handed jam).

‘Tuesday, I went down and it swelled up the next day. It didn’t look good,’ O’Brien said. ‘I did a lot of rehab with the trainer [Eric Gahan], and we got it the best that we could. It got progressively better during warmups, so I was able to go today.’

From one sprained ankle sufferer to another, junior guard Corey Lowe started on a tender right ankle that he sprained Saturday against Iona College. Though the swelling subsided, Lowe’s shooting didn’t – in the first half, at least. He went 1-of-7 in the first 20 minutes, extending his career-worst slide to 7-of-34 over three and a half games.

The second half was different, as Lowe drained the first bucket for either side out of the locker room – a left-corner trey – and connected on 4 of his7 shots in the final 20 minutes, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.

‘We can all make assumptions because he’s made so many 3s over the years here that he misses some. It’s like anything else,’ Wolff said. ‘He’s missed some, been in a little bit of a funk, and you have to get a couple to go.’

While Lowe demonstrated flashes of his mid-season form shooting the ball, he also facilitated. The Newton native dished out seven assists and turned the ball over once. Lowe’s passes were crisp and timely, the most impressive of which was a dish to senior guard Marques Johnson, who cut into the paint and converted a reverse layup to make it 67-46.

‘While there’s been a lot of onus on Corey, I thought Corey played really well tonight, and I want to make sure that we’re clear about that,’ Wolff said. ‘He played hard defensively, and he played very unselfishly offensively.’

The Terriers never trailed and ensured the program’s first winning season in three years with their 16th win.

With 3:55 remaining in the first half, Holland electrified the crowd with what was another SportsCenter-caliber dunk to put BU up 36-25. Holland was sprung on the fastbreak at center court and dribbled into the lane against two defenders. He then crossed over (faking left) to create space and tomahawk-dunked right-handed over Maine’s defender on the right side.

‘John’s as skilled an offensive player at that position as I’ve had here,’ Wolff said. ‘As long as John prepares the right way and doesn’t take himself out, he can get a lot of things done in just about every game we have.’

Pelage, who also had a thunderous dunk to pop an exclamation point on his double-double, accumulated his stats in 21 minutes and is no doubt playing the best basketball of his career as he also had three blocks and two assists. It’s a welcome sight for BU’s coaching staff, which has been imploring Pelage to develop consistency since the first day of practice.

‘I’m seeing myself more with the team. It was just comfort, I guess. Now I know that I’m in there. I’m with them. Now they rely on me to do my job, so I get it done,’ Pelage said.

‘Jeff is going on about a week of very good play, and every day he’s played a little better than the day before,’ Wolff said.

While the game may not have jostled the standings, it no doubt helped BU’s psyche as the A tournament draws nearer, which is exactly what Wolff was hoping for.

‘The thing that I’m most happy about for this group of kids is that we’ve been able to have some adversity at different times this year and get back up,’ Wolff said. ‘I liked the way we looked tonight regardless of what was going on with Maine.’

Game Notes: Maine was led by freshman guard Gerald McLemore (16 points) and sophomore forward Troy Barnies (13 points, 10 rebounds). They are locked into the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament. ‘hellip; Thursday marked the first time since 2000 the Terriers had two players record double-doubles in the same game. ‘hellip; Tunji Awojobi was the other player under Wolff to record a 500-point season and he did so twice, including a 658-point campaign in his junior year. ‘hellip; BU outrebounded the Black Bears 42-31. ‘hellip; The Terriers had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (18-10) for just the second time in six games. ‘hellip; Of the historic 1,000th win, Wolff said: ‘There have been some really good coaches here over the years, and there have been some very good players. I’ve been lucky enough to be the coach here for 15 years, so we’ve won games. To be sitting in that seat when the school wins its thousandth is something that I’m sure that I’ll reflect upon when my career is over.’