The clock is ticking.
With four conference games to play before next month’s America East Tournament, the Boston University men’s basketball team remains in search of one key item on its to-do list.
A signature league victory.
BU’s 8-4 conference record masks a viable concern heading into the final weeks of the regular season &- its struggles against the America East’s upper-echelon teams. The Terriers’ eight conference wins have come at the expense of the five squads below them in the league standings, all of which carry losing overall records.
First-year coach Patrick Chambers’ crew hasn’t had quite the same success opposite conference front-runners Stony Brook University, the University of Maine and the University of Vermont, who sport a combined 4-0 mark versus BU in 2010.
Luckily for the Terriers (13-11), the preseason favorite to represent the America East in the NCAA Tournament, opportunity awaits. Second-place Vermont invades Agganis Arena on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. contest that presents BU a chance to state its case as a legitimate conference contender.
Chambers, however, hasn’t placed added significance on any single game all season. And he won’t start now.
“Every game is different,” Chambers said. “I don’t want to say the teams behind us in the standings aren’t good, and I don’t want to say the teams ahead of us are better than us. Every game that we’ve played, except for a couple, I thought we competed.
“We just have to go out there and play hard.”
Led by the league’s two-time reigning Player of the Year in senior forward Marqus Blakely, the Catamounts (17-8, 8-3 AE) enter Tuesday’s matchup with a three-game winning streak and plenty of positive memories from their previous meeting against the Terriers.
Last month at Patrick Gymnasium, Vermont limited BU’s high-powered offense to 17 percent shooting during the first half of a 78-58 home victory. Blakely posted modest totals of 11 points and three rebounds in that contest, well below his season averages of 17.4 points and nine boards.
Tuesday, Blakely’s contributions might prove inconsequential if the Terriers replicate the slow start that dogged them Jan. 17 in Burlington, Vt.
“I’ll take blame for that. I have to call better plays early in the game,” Chambers said. “We have to be a little bit stronger with the ball, go up at people’s chests, and make better toughness plays.”
The Terriers must also address their season-long issue of lackluster bench production. Senior guard Corey Lowe’s recent switch from starter to sixth man may provide a solution, but the co-captain has averaged just eight points in two games since being moved out of the starting lineup.
Despite the Newton, Mass., native’s collective 5-for-23 shooting effort last week, Chambers refuses to lose faith in BU’s third all-time leading scorer’s ability as a reserve.
“I’m going to stick with it,” Chambers said.
How well the Terriers stick with Chambers’ day-to-day mindset could determine the fate of their season.
“We still have a ways to go. But, like I always say, we’re headed in the right direction,” Chambers said. “I always say that we’re like a stonecutter. If we keep pounding at the stone, eventually it’s going to break. I hope for this group &- these seniors especially &- that it breaks sooner than later.”
News &’ notes: Blakely’s 17.4 points per game rank second to BU junior forward John Holland (18.8 ppg) for tops in the America East. The Vermont star’s nine rebounds per contest place him behind only Stony Brook sophomore forward Tommy Brenton (9.3 rpg). … The Catamounts have racked up a conference-best 1,717 points this season, but the Terriers pace the league with a 69.1 scoring average. … BU has won five of its last six games at Agganis.
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