Opening with three straight losses will bring any team down, regardless of who it has played.
After falling to Boston College by 23 on Saturday, coupled with previous losses to the College of the Holy Cross and Saint Joseph’s University, the Boston University men’s basketball team had played its way into an 0-3 hole to start the season. On Sunday night, BU players gathered for a meeting to talk about what it had done wrong in its three losses and what it needed to do to right itself before it was in too deep.
Whatever words were said in that meeting obviously motivated the Terriers, as BU took it to Youngstown State University Monday night at Case Gymnasium, using a 21-4 first-half run to cruise to an 83-61 victory. Matt Turner scored 20 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for the Terriers (1-3), who had five players score in double figures.
‘Everybody had to do a little soul-searching, pick up their own game individually so we could bring it together as a collective unit,’ Turner said after BU’s first win. ‘Everyone got anything they had to say off their chest, and we basically told each other we’re going to come together and give it all we got.’
The Terriers truly played like a unit against the Penguins (1-3), battling on defense and sharing the ball on offense. BU piled up 12 steals and caused many of Youngstown State’s 22 turnovers. The Terriers spread the wealth on the other end, as 21 of BU’s 29 field goals were assisted.
BU coach Dennis Wolff said he was happy his team was able to give such a strong effort after its rough start to the season.
‘When you have three games like we did last week, you begin to doubt yourself, and you’re kind of struggling for the win,’ said Wolff, who won his 150th game in 10 seasons at BU. ‘So what I think I was most proud of tonight is we came out aggressively on both ends of the court.’
With the Terriers leading 14-8 with about 12 minutes left in the first half, Turner curled off a screen at the top of the key and stroked the first of his game-high four three-pointers. The senior would hit two more threes from the same spot and a baseline jumper over the next seven minutes to propel BU to a 35-12 lead with five minutes to play in the half.
Feeding Turner the ball on two of his threes during the run was Chaz Carr, who was all over the court, totaling 15 points, seven assists, four steals and no turnovers in 35 minutes.
‘[Turner and Carr] both played very well,’ Wolff said. ‘It wasn’t just the fact that they scored. [Turner] made good decisions. I was happy with all their play, but I think we got consistent play from everybody.’
BU led by as many as 23 in the first half, but the Penguins scraped their way back to make it an 11-point game three minutes into the second half.
Turner again sparked a Terrier run, this time swapping roles with Carr. Soon after he came into the game, the senior drove past his defender and spotted Carr in the left corner for an open three. The junior took the pass and knocked home his first from behind the arc.
One minute later, the duo pulled the same trick, with Turner dishing and Carr swishing from the same spot.
On the next possession, Tuner dribbled down the right wing and lofted a pass to Rashad Bell, who dropped in two of his 19 points and stretched BU’s lead back to 19 points. After the 10-2 Terrier spurt, the Penguins would not come closer than 15 for the rest of night.
‘We definitely need to play like that day in and day out,’ Turner said. ‘As long as we’re unselfish, guys will get points … we’ll get wins. It comes down to us being ourselves, playing as a unit.’
BU will look to continue its team-oriented play on Wednesday night at Ohio University. Wolff said his team will have to continue to look to future rather than remember the past.
‘The one thing I have learned in the time I have been here,’ Wolff said, ‘is that if you keep dwelling on the past games, you’re not going to win the games you have coming up.’