That tingly, nauseous feeling that’s come over you isn’t by accident, and the symptoms aren’t exclusively yours. The ailments belong to anyone who follows the Boston University men’s basketball team and are attributable to motion sickness, because after a timid 14-point loss to the University of Vermont on Wednesday, the Terriers regrouped and demolished Binghamton University Saturday at the Events Center, 81-64.
Thus has been the nature of BU’s season through 16 games, as – whether it’s untimely injuries, late-game collapses, blowout wins or dynamic 3-point shooting – the Terriers have been near-impossible to predict.
Sophomore forward John Holland continued his unconscious play since the start of the conference schedule, scoring a season-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting and a career-high five 3-pointers. In four games against America East opponents, Holland has 97 points, 19 rebounds and seven steals.
‘He’s been very, very good in every game. That’s it. Case closed,’ BU coach Dennis Wolff said. ‘Defensively he’s been good, rebounding-wise [he’s been good] and he made good decisions. One of the big differences is he’s totally under control when he’s off the dribble now, and that’s important in his game.’
In addition to Holland, the Terriers (7-9, 2-2 AE) received contributions from just about every member of their roster, as Wolff called the victory the ‘best team effort of the year.’
Junior guard Corey Lowe scored 16 points, while freshman forward Jake O’Brien added 10. Fellow big men junior forward Scott Brittain and freshman forward Jeff Pelage both scored nine. More impressive than the offensive numbers were BU’s rebounding and assist tallies. Senior forward Matt Wolff – after coming up virtually empty in the stat sheet against Vermont in 38 minutes of action – dished out six assists (as did Lowe), grabbed seven rebounds and added seven points. O’Brien pulled down a career-high nine rebounds, while Brittain had eight.
One of BU’s biggest problems this season has been rebounding, and things have been altered a bit since Wolff made the decision to play a matchup zone. While the zone has looked solid in three of four conference contests, the rebounding hasn’t. Saturday was different, as BU dominated the glass, 37-18.
‘I thought it was effective,’ Wolff said of the zone. ‘I thought we kept them in front of us. We rebounded better out of it today than we did [against Vermont], so today we were much better out of it.’
Not to mention the Terriers had to execute that zone against the conference’s leading scorer – Bearcats junior guard D.J. Rivera, who came in averaging 20.9 points per game and had recorded at least 20 points in 11 of 15 games. BU held Rivera to a season-low 11 points on a season-low three field goals in a season-low 24 minutes. While it may not seem like much, showing that the zone (which the Terriers hadn’t practiced as much as man-to-man prior to the injuries) can shut down a team’s best weapon is encouraging as BU progresses through its conference schedule.
Unlike many of their previous contests, the Terriers began the game on a 12-0 run, and while the gap eventually closed to 39-35 at the half, BU showed a seldom-seen resiliency and ability not only to close the game out, but run away with it.
Holland hit all five of his treys in the second half, during which the Terriers outscored Binghamton (10-7, 3-2), 42-29. Things would have been far worse had the Bearcats, losers of their last three, not gone on a 9-0 run with seven minutes remaining.
‘I thought it was important that we didn’t lose our focus and when they had runs, we still kept our composure and continued to play,’ Wolff said.
Aside from the misstep against Vermont, the Terriers have looked impressive since the beginning of conference play – something not many could have predicted after the team lost redshirt junior guard Tyler Morris and junior guard Carlos Strong to season-ending knee injuries.
The win over a Bearcat team that entered the day in the upper half of the conference standings and already had an overtime win against Vermont in its back pocket couldn’t have come at a better time, as BU’s aggressiveness was nowhere to be found against the Catamounts. Saturday, the Terriers had five dunks ‘- three by Holland ‘- and outworked Binghamton in basically every facet of the game.
Still, as helpful as the win was for BU, the days turn over quickly in America East this season. As of Saturday night the league had seven teams with at least two wins and two losses, and the Terriers have a difficult week ahead with home games against Stony Brook University and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
‘This is a real tough week for us. We’ve got to come back and play Monday and Thursday, so there’s not much turnaround time and we’ve got to stay focused,’ Wolff said. ‘Stony Brook is way improved, so it’s not going to be an easy game.’
Game notes: With four 3-pointers, Lowe moved into third-place on BU’s all-time list for made treys. He needs nine more to break the school’s all-time record (202) set by Mark Daly. ‘hellip; Junior guard Sherrod Smith scored his first points of the season on a layup with 19 seconds remaining in the game. ‘hellip; With the win, BU improved to 12-4 all-time against Binghamton. ‘hellip; The Terriers finished with a season-high 30 points in the paint and were one shy of a season-high in blocks with seven.
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