Carr Leads Men’s Hoops To Success

With the loss of Matt Turner in early December, the Boston University men’s basketball team abruptly found itself without the spark that sometimes rekindled the flames in several games.

Turner’s season-ending shoulder injury Dec. 1 didn’t mean the end of the Terriers’ season then, and it doesn’t now, but they are surely a more resilient team with their fiery junior guard.

In the absence of Turner, BU has performed well, posting seven wins and four losses, building a 10-7 overall record and going 4-1 in the America East. And after see-sawing through December and into January by following big wins with lackluster losses, BU has strung together three straight wins for the first time this season.

The Terriers have rebounded from their discouraging 74-65 defeat at home to the University of Vermont on Jan. 5 by beating three conference opponents in a week (at the University of Hartford, followed by home wins against State University of New York at Binghamton and SUNY-Stony Brook).

The integral part to the Terriers’ stabilization has been the clutch play of an undersized and underestimated guard not named Turner.

Yesterday, freshman Chaz Carr was named Rookie of the Week in the conference for the third time this season, and the numbers tell the story.

Carr, slung into a heavier role in the backcourt when Turner’s arm was put in a sling, averaged 14.3 points per game in BU’s three-game win streak and had a game-high 17 points in the Terriers 14-point win over Hartford last Monday. Carr then dropped 11 and 15 points on Binghamton and Stony Brook, respectively, to keep intact what might be his most telling stat: the frosh has scored in double-figures in 10 straight games.

Carr’s Tom Brady-esque play has alleviated a void in the Terriers backcourt that seemed too large to fill initially, and BU is in second place in the America East behind Vermont, a surprise at 5-0 in the conference.

While Carr has help and plenty of playing time to account for his impressive performances so far, he is making the most of the opportunity. The rookie is second on BU in scoring (12.4 ppg), assists (40) and three-point percentage (almost 37 percent) and is among the top 10 in in the league in scoring, as well as field goal and free throw percentage.

If he can continue to deliver consistency to BU’s lineup throughout the conference season, Carr may steer the Terriers to the top of the America East.

At this time last season, the Terriers were 7-8, 1-4 in the conference and riding a three-game losing streak.

Now on the much more comfortable flip side of the story, BU is a game out of first place and will enter the bulk of the America East schedule on the crest of three consecutive wins.

Aside from the Vermont defeat, BU has played like the best team in the league this season, as it was expected to be in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Terriers are first in team defense, allowing just 65.1 points per game, and are 7-0 overall when they hold opponents to less than 60 points.

BU has also outrebounded each of the five conference teams it has played this season, thanks to strength on the boards provided by junior captain Billy Collins and newcomer Rashad Bell, among others. The Terriers also fall just behind Vermont in team scoring margin, team rebounding and three-point percentage, and BU certainly looks to be in the upper tier of the conference in the early going. Three teams have one win or less, and three others have posted only two.

January has not been good to the Terriers in the past three years. BU is 7-20 in January since 1999, and went 1-9 in 2000. The Terriers have four games left before February … The Terriers recorded a season-high in assists Saturday against Stony Brook, dishing 24 times … BU is just 3-7 when its opponent scores 60 or more points … Collins and Carr are No. 9 and 10 in America East scoring, respectively.