Talk about a rebound performance.
Four days after its worst offensive showing of the season, the Boston University men’s basketball team responded in style Wednesday night at Agganis Arena, dazzling a crowd of 1,477 with a 93-51 demolition of Binghamton University.
Senior guard Carlos Strong scored 23 points to lead four Terriers in double figures and sophomore forward Jake O’Brien posted his second consecutive double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds for BU (15-12, 10-5 America East), which has won four of its past five games.
First-year coach Patrick Chambers considered the win his squad’s most impressive of the 2009-10 campaign.
“I thought for the most part we played 40 minutes of BU basketball,” Chambers said. “We always talk about being the best team we can be by the end of the season, and we’re heading in that direction. It’s a credit to these guys for playing hard and believing in what we’re trying to do.”
BU followed up last Saturday’s dismal 27.9 percent shooting effort against the University of Hartford by converting 54.8 percent of its field goal attempts, including 9-of-18 beyond the 3-point arc in perhaps its final Agganis appearance of the season.
“You’re going to have these games, and we had one tonight,” Chambers said. “It’s good for these seniors, because this could be the last time they play in this building. I wanted them to make it memorable, and I think they did.
“They’re never going to forget this.”
Junior guard Moussa Camara had 12 points and star junior forward Greer Wright added seven for the Bearcats (11-17, 6-7 AE), who never led as they dropped their fourth straight contest.
Coming off a forgettable 11-point outing Saturday, America East leading scorer John Holland returned to his prolific ways in Wednesday’s first half. The junior forward scored the game’s first seven points and piled up 16 of his 20 points before halftime, becoming the first Terrier since 1997 graduate Tunji Awojobi to record consecutive 500-point seasons.
“John’s a heck of a player,” said senior guard Tyler Morris, who tallied 18 points and a game-high five assists. “I can honestly say he’s a guy who just keeps plugging away, whether things are going good or bad for him or the team. That’s a credit to him. Over the past five or six games, he’s really matured to a point where he’s minimized the amount of bad shots he takes.
He’s becoming a great all-around player.”
O’Brien poured in all of his 15 points during the opening period, as BU rolled into the intermission sporting a healthy 44-25 advantage.
But the Terriers weren’t done yet.
“Coach thought we played pretty well in the first half,” Morris said. “But he’s been kind of harping on us all season about putting good games together, because we had yet to play 40 minutes of what he calls BU basketball.
“He told us, “We played 20 minutes in the first half. Let’s see if we can come out and play another 20 minutes in the second half.’ That’s what we tried to do.”
The Terriers unleashed a 17-5 run out of the break and stretched their lead to as many as 43 points in the second session of a game that resembled an exhibition. Eleven players saw the floor for BU, all but two of whom scored.
Chambers’ team coupled its offensive proficiency with a stifling defensive performance, limiting Binghamton to 30.8 percent shooting.
“In the second half of the conference season we’ve placed an emphasis on defense, no matter what happens on offense,” Morris said. “We have a bunch of offensively talented players, so if we can expend 100 percent energy on the defensive end, the rest will take care of itself. That’s been our focus. Hopefully, it continues.”
More efforts like Wednesday’s could produce a welcome extension to the Terriers’ season come March.
“We’ve had stretches where we’ve played 28, 30, 32 minutes, but tonight was the first time we actually had a complete game,” Chambers said. “I’m happy for these guys, because all year long that’s all I’ve been talking about. They finally did it, and they took pride in it.”
Game notes: Wednesday marked BU’s largest margin of victory since a 73-22 win over Hartford in 2005. … Strong registered a career-high five steals. … The Terriers finished the regular season with a 4-2 record at Agganis.
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