Six overtimes in two games at Case Gymnasium is no way to treat the Boston University men's basketball teams' bodies, but it's one heck of a way to treat the fans -- especially with the results of both games were favorable for the Terrier faithful.
Despite the immense amount of minutes the short-staffed team has logged over the last two contests (coming in the middle of a four games in eight-day trip) the Terriers once again found a way to win in the face of a potential collapse. A polar opposite of the thriller against Stony Brook (which was close wire to wire... to wire, to wire) the Retrievers took a 9-3 lead in the first half before the Terriers gained control and upped their lead to 19 points a minute into the second half. Then the comeback -- fulled by one of the best players in the conference in Darryl Proctor and also by BU's fatigue (as BU coach Dennis Wolff said in the press conference).
Still for two teams whose benches were fairly short, the game was played as passionately as any in America East this season. Once again, Corey Lowe was able to summon extra energy as the game dragged on and help the Terriers to their third-straight win, especially when John Holland was admittedly tired toward the end of the second half and wasn't dominating the scoring like he did against Stony Brook.
Pros:
-- Corey Lowe's poise: Lowe once again dug deep and found that extra spark of energy that allowed him to make some crucial plays down the stretch and lead BU to victory.
-- Matt Wolff's 52-footer: Longest shot a Terriers' made since Corey Hassan knocked down a prayer past half court that he let go too late (against Maine at Agganis in the 2005-06 season), so it didn't count. Best part was, he almost pulled up from 52 feet and calmly knocked it down. No fist pump, smile, anything. Just a jog to the locker room up big.
Cons:
-- Near collapse: It's happened too many times to feel confident it won't again, but the last two wins certainly help alleviate some of those thoughts. Still, blowing a 19-point lead to a team with two players on the bench and a woozy starting point guard isn't encouraging.
-- Jake O'Brien's shooting: While it's a given players are going to have bad shooting nights, some of O'Brien's misses on his 2-of-11 evening were wide-open looks. He's had rough games like this before, but hasn't seemed to let it impact his game for an extended period of time.
Links:
How many more (over)times
Lowe records another big game
Terriers perfect exhaust system
Case of deja vu for Terriers
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