After the Boston University men’s basketball team scored a season-low 48 points in a 60-48 loss to the University of New Hampshire on Saturday, it was safe to say that they would need to bounce back in a big way to win their next game against conference-leading University of Maine.
Few could have predicted just how big that bounce would be, however, as the Terriers looked completely different on Tuesday from the team that was chased out of Lundholm Gymnasium just three days earlier.
BU (11-13, 6-4 America East) defeated the Black Bears (14-8, 8-2 AE), 88-78, before a crowd of 669 at Agganis Arena to keep their conference record over .500 and become just the second team in America East to beat Maine this year.
Not only did BU rebound from Saturday’s performance by scoring a season-high 88 on the Black Bears, they also shot a blistering 62.5 percent from the field in the second half and 52.5 percent overall, well over their season average of 38.6.
The Terriers also had five scorers reach double figures for the second time this season, and senior forward John Holland became the second player in BU history to reach the 2,000 career point plateau by submitting a 24-point, 12-rebound performance for his ninth career double-double.
“I give a lot of credit to Maine,” BU coach Patrick Chambers said. “They’re a great team, the best team in this league. They didn’t give up. They kept fighting. We made 11 threes and we shot 53 percent. . . The game is easy when you make shots, and we haven’t seen that for a long time. It was good to see for once. But we need to get better.”
The Terriers started the game on a 15-4 run in which plenty of BU players contributed on offense. Holland scored on a jumper from the paint to draw within 11 of 2,000 career points while junior guard Darryl Partin and freshman forward Dom Morris each had five in the run.
After Holland hit a free throw to make the score 16-7, BU’s offensive dominance began to slacken. Holland didn’t score again in the half until the 18:44 mark, and the Black Bears kept the game within striking distance. With 8:57 remaining in the half, Maine took its first lead of the game on guard Gerald McLemore’s second consecutive 3-pointer.
After three lead changes, the Terriers restored an eight-point advantage on Holland’s 3-point shot and again on a buzzer-beating tip-in by freshman guard Mike Terry Jr. The Terriers went into the half up 40-32.
“It was huge for us to get that lead, go into the locker room with a nice little cushion,” Chambers said. “And Mike Terry, who [has had limited minutes], he got a big tip-in for us. That was huge.”
he Terriers played like an inspired team in the second half. Their 48 second-half points matched their offensive output for the entire game on Saturday against UNH. The Black Bears opened the second frame with a quick 5-0 spurt off of a jumper by forward Troy Barnies and a 3-pointer from forward Murphy Burnatowski. The Terriers countered with an overwhelming 23-10 run capped by a 3-pointer by Holland with 12:05 remaining to give him 2,001 points in his career.
“It’s a great accomplishment for John,” Chambers said. “I’m really proud of him. He stepped up. I think I’m more proud of the 12 rebounds, but I’m proud of him.”
Although the Black Bears cut the lead to eight with 42 seconds remaining, the Terriers closed the door with two free throws by Griffin and Holland’s 12th rebound off of a last-ditch 3-point attempt by guard Raheem Singleton.
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