Despite four double-digit scoring performances and a chance to pull ahead late in the game, the Boston University men’s basketball team fell short on the road Saturday to Mount St. Mary’s University, 78-69.
In the first ever matchup between the two squads, the Mount (2-2) started out well, building a 12-point lead on more than 50-percent shooting in the opening act. Yet, even after the Terriers (3-2) rallied to tie the game by limiting their opponent to just 33 percent shooting in the second half, they failed to finish.
‘It was a very, very frustrating loss,’ BU coach Dennis Wolff said. ‘We played pretty hard and pretty well, but not quite well enough or hard enough. We did a lot of good things in the second half and were able to come back and tie the score, and then there was a whole series of bizarre plays at the end.’
After Mount sophomore Jean Cajou missed a 3 with 5:05 left, sophomore John Holland had a chance to give the Terriers their first lead since 7:58 in the first half, but instead he was called for a charge.
Mount St. Mary’s capitalized on the turnover, tallying the next five points by means of junior Kelly Beidler’s 3 and a steal leading to a fast-break layup by classmate Jeremy Goode, who finished with a game-high 23 points. The Terriers wouldn’t get closer than four after that.
A key factor in the loss was the Terriers’ poor performance in the paint. Six-foot-7 senior forward Markus Mitchell pushed the Terriers around, tallying a game-high 12 rebounds. As a team, the Mount more than doubled up the Terriers in points under the basket, 34-16, and also held a significant rebounding advantage, 46-29.
‘Because we got into a little bit of foul trouble, we ended up playing a little bit more zone than we wanted to,’ Wolff said. ‘This was probably the biggest team we played all year ‘-‘- a good team and a big team. So we didn’t quite rebound in our areas as much as we needed to.’
Another concern is the health and playing time of junior forward Scott Brittain, who only played five minutes. Brittain, who suffered a concussion just before the season began, missed the first two games of the season and mustered only 21 minutes in the two previous games.
‘It is what it is right now,’ Wolff said. ‘We need to see not just from him, but guys that want to play more, we need to see daily things that would get them on the court.’
Junior Tyler Morris’s struggles also are a cause for worry. The former Rookie of the Year scored two points on 1-of-4 shooting, adding one board and an assist.
‘That’s something that he’s going to have to work himself through,’ Wolff said. ‘We still have confidence in him. I think his struggles come from almost trying too hard, and I think what he needs to do is try to relax and just let the game come to him.
The lone bright spot for BU on the night was the Terriers’ depth of offensive contributors, with Holland’s 17 points, junior Corey Lowe’s 16, freshman Jake O’Brien’s 11, and an especially impressive performance from junior Carlos Strong, who paced the team with 18 points and six rebounds.
‘Strong played very well offensively [Saturday],’ Wolff said. ‘Strong has been a good player the whole time here, so I think that he has some games where he really comes in and he’s a guy that goes with the rhythm and he had it going last night.’
Yet Strong’s play alone could not save the Terriers from another narrow defeat.
‘Across the board, we weren’t efficient enough on offense or disciplined enough on defense to win a close game on the road against a good team, and that’s where we have to improve,’ Wolff said.
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