Judging from the box score, the Boston University men’s basketball team didn’t deserve much postgame praise from its coach Saturday night.
Sixty-eight shots attempted. Nineteen converted. Season-low 27.9 shooting percentage.
But those numbers did little to discourage Patrick Chambers, who believes his squad turned a corner with its 58-55 victory against the University of Hartford at Case Gymnasium.
“If we shot 28 percent at the beginning of the year, I don’t know that we would have come out on top,” said Chambers, whose Terriers improved to 9-5 in America East play. “I’m extremely proud of these guys for keeping a great attitude and grinding it out. As a coach, it was a satisfying win.”
Just four days earlier, BU watched a last-minute four-point lead over the University of Vermont dissolve into a gut-wrenching home loss. Last month, the University of Maine stunned BU with a buzzer-beating layup after the Terriers overcame a 10-point road deficit.
And seven-win Hartford did its part to break BU’s heart again Saturday, as junior guard Joe Zeglinski buried a 3-pointer that gave the Hawks a 55-54 edge with 1:28 left in regulation.
The Terriers then reached within themselves to display a quality Chambers has preached all season — resilience.
“When Zeglinski hit the three, you didn’t see our guys drop their heads down,” Chambers said. “Their body language was fine. They were like, “Let’s make the next play. Let’s get a good shot. Let’s get to the foul line.’
“We finally took on a winner’s mentality that we weren’t going to lose this game.”
Sophomore forward Jake O’Brien secured the rebound of Zeglinski’s missed jumper on Hartford’s ensuing possession, and, with 5.6 seconds remaining, capped an otherwise forgettable 6-for-18 shooting performance by draining a go-ahead trey from the top of the key.
“Obviously, my shots weren’t falling,” said O’Brien, who tallied 16 points and a career-high 14 boards for his fifth collegiate double-double. “But when you get the ball in that situation, you can’t shy away from the moment.”
“I told him in the huddle, “Don’t worry about it. Just keep shooting. You’ll knock down the next one,'” Chambers said. “The thing I like most about Jake is that he doesn’t get down if he’s off his game. He’s a scorer, and he knows that’s what he’s supposed to do. Even if you’re missing shots, you still have to have the confidence to take the next one, and he did.”
O’Brien’s heroics followed a practice session Friday in which he struggled mightily during late-game shooting simulations. Saturday, Chambers’ season-long emphasis on practicing worst-case scenarios paid significant dividends.
“You have to prepare for those situations,” Chambers said. “Don’t get me wrong, there are no fans, refs or cheerleaders, but I still try to make it as intense as I possibly can. I tell the players, “This is the set we’re going to run. Let’s make a play. Know the situation.’ I feel like they executed those things [Saturday].”
With three games left of a regular season marked by adversity ranging from injuries to shooting woes, BU’s brightest days may lie ahead.
“I’d like for us to be the hottest team going into the America East Tournament,” Chambers said. “I want us to continue to be a confident group that plays with a lot of heart. For the next three games, win or lose, I just want us to keep getting better.
“Our attitude is really starting to come into play now. The guys are truly beginning to believe in the system and believe in BU basketball, and that’s fun to watch. Hopefully, [Saturday] was that stepping stone we needed to feel comfortable at the end of games. I feel like we got over the hump.”
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