Welcome to the doldrums of the Boston University men’s basketball season – the unusual segment of the year that’s too far removed from early November to remain filled with opening-day jitters and too distant from conference play to afford a ‘big game’ title to every contest.
It’s a period that hasn’t been particularly kind to the Terriers over the past three seasons, and it’s at least a small part of the many reasons why BU hasn’t dominated its America East schedule as it did in the early 2000s. Over the last three years, the Terriers have a 7-14 record in the final seven non-conference games before they face their first conference opponent.
Of course, that’s an obscure statistic and not one to be overly concerned with, but it speaks to the direction of the program. Beating Northeastern University last Tuesday was an enormous first step toward gaining recognition outside of America East. And while BU wasn’t able to topple defending NEC champion – Mount St. Mary’s University – last Saturday, playing them tough may have raised a few eyebrows.
BU received nine votes in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Poll this week, and while the team is a long way from being ranked in that poll, Wednesday night’s game against Harvard University at Lavietes Pavilion at 8 p.m. marks an opportunity for the Terriers to start this year’s midseason stretch on a positive note.
The contest is the final leg of a season-long three-game road trip’ ‘-‘- BU also plays three straight conference games on the road in late January ‘-‘- and marks a chance for the Terriers to beat the Crimson for the eighth consecutive time.
Granted, a win at Harvard (3-1) isn’t going to move BU (3-2) up in the polls, but it will pull the team closer to achieving a feat it hasn’t accomplished in three seasons – a winning non-conference record. What that would do for this group, momentum-wise, heading into conference play remains unknown, but in every possible hypothetical scenario, it’s a positive thing.
If, however, the Terriers hope to achieve such a level of consistency, they’ll need some of their pieces to start working better, namely point guard Tyler Morris. Morris was limited to 13 minutes against the Mountaineers, and he missed two free throws following a technical foul that would have brought BU within three points early in the second half. Morris was an 80.5 percent free throw shooter prior to the season, but is 4-of-9 in five games thus far.
‘I shortened his minutes a bit the other night because he just has a dazed look,’ BU coach Dennis Wolff said. ‘It’s as simple as, it just takes one little thing and now his confidence is shaken. Somehow, he has to get off worrying about the wrong things. He’s worrying about, ‘How am I going to play and how’s it going to look?’ He should just play basketball.’
What’s odd is that Morris appears fully healthy, athletic and composed in practice, making the majority of his shots and playing with the same passion that fueled his AE Rookie of the Year campaign in 2006-07. Though, if there was ever a place for Morris to snap out of his funk, it could be at Lavietes Pavilion. In his second collegiate game, he notched 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting in a 78-74 victory Nov. 14, 2006.
‘I’m going to play Tyler more and hope he plays his way out of it,’ Wolff said in response to whether Morris would play limited minutes for the second straight game.
Aside from Morris, another of BU’s problems is its inability to consistently rebound the ball. While freshman Jake O’Brien has been contributing immensely offensively (12.6 points per game), it would put less pressure on the Terriers’ other forwards if he could average slightly more than 3.2 rebounds per game.
‘Jake needs to rebound better. I think if Jake gets four or five rebounds a game with everything else that he’s doing, that’d be good,’ Wolff said.
Another weapon in BU’s rebounding arsenal is junior Scott Brittain. But since his return to the lineup, he’s been relegated to a minimal role off the bench, and it doesn’t appear that will change until Brittain shows a more concerted effort.
‘We need Brittain to play, or we’re going to play [freshman Jeff] Pelage a little more,’ Wolff said. ‘If he shows me something [Monday] and [Tuesday] in practice, he’ll play more against Harvard.’
News & notes: Both Morris and Pelage were diagnosed with flu-like symptoms following the Mount St. Mary’s game, but have both been cleared to play Wednesday night. ‘hellip; Harvard’s leading scorer is Jeremy Lin, who’s averaging 20 points per game this year. Freshman forward Keith Wright is the Crimson’s leading rebounder, pulling down nine per contest. ‘hellip; The Crimson lead the all-time series against BU, 32-26. ‘hellip; The game will be the second of a Harvard basketball doubleheader. Harvard’s women’s team tips off against the University of New Hampshire at 6 p.m.
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