Injury bug has men’s hoops caught in early bind

From the outset of the season, Boston University men’s basketball coach Patrick Chambers was well aware of the greatest threat to his team’s success.

‘The biggest obstacle I would have to say is just staying healthy,’ Chambers said before the season began. ‘If this team can just stay healthy and believe in itself and play with great confidence, we should have a successful year.” ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘

This hurdle has proved to be difficult to overcome as injuries have wracked the Terriers. BU has been without the services of senior co-captain Scott Brittain while freshman B.J. Bailey has only played 33 minutes in three games. After the bench laid a goose egg in the season opener at Iona, the lack of depth became a glaring issue.

To remedy the problem, Chambers shuffled his lineup for the home opener against George Washington University, starting senior Valdas Sirutis and initially keeping junior John Holland on the sideline. The first-year coach rationalized the move after the game simply ‘-‘- ‘We needed some firepower and juice off the bench.’

Holland has provided that and more, doing his best impression of Pistons’ guard Ben Gordon. Despite only starting once before Sunday, he paces the team and America East with 19.7 points per game. But with a leg injury to Sirutis and Bailey missing another contest Sunday against Harvard University, the junior was pressed to start and the bench produced just two points.

BU’s depth troubles are fully exposed when Holland’s contributions are removed. Subtracting his numbers, the Terriers have managed a paltry 16 points on 3-for-23 shooting off the bench. Bailey has a mere nine points on the year ‘-‘- six coming against Northeastern University ‘-‘- and was the only non-starter to record a field goal before senior Tunde Agboola’s layup Sunday. The basket also represented the senior’s first points since February 2008.

If the Terriers are going to be competitive now and in time for the conference schedule, reserves like sophomore Jeff Pelage (0-for-11 field goals, 4-of-10 free throws) and senior Sherrod Smith (0-for-4 FG, 1-of-2 FT) will have to start to step up. Until then, Chambers will be forced to work with what he has available.

‘It’s going to be nice to get a little bit of a bench back,’ Chambers said after the George Washington game. ‘Once we get a bench again, we’re going to be okay.’

Around the League: November Edition

BU’s America East opponents are keeping an eye on the preseason favorites as the first month of action comes to a close. But with conference play still about a month away, it’s worth taking a brief look at how the other America East teams have fared.

The conference leader ‘–‘- and only team with a winning record thus far ‘-‘- is Stony Brook University (4-1). With their only loss coming at the University of Rhode Island, the Seawolves have stifled their opposition, preventing any player from putting up more than 16 points and holding teams under 40 percent shooting three times.

The University of New Hampshire (2-2) has held steady at .500, led by Player of the Week junior Dane DiLiegro. The junior scored a career-high 27 points against future BU opponent Marist College, single-handedly outscoring them at the half.

A muddled middle of six teams with two and three wins and losing records follows. The University of Hartford Hawks (2-4) stand out with their torrid offense, pacing the league in scoring (71.0 points per game), field-goal (.451) and three-point shooting (.377). Even expected cellar-dweller Binghamton University (2-5) has more or less held its own.

The surprise bottom team is the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (0-5), as the Retrievers are still searching for their first victory. The fact that three of their losses have been by five points or less shows progress, though a negative six rebounding margin is troublesome.