By René Reyes/DFP Staff
Junior forward Jake O’Brien: Incomplete
O’Brien tallied four of the Terriers’ first nine points of the ballgame. He had an emphatic putback slam off a Daryl Partin missed jumper and then hit a floater over his defender from the low block. O’Brien registered just four points on 2-of-4 shooting on the night, adding a rebound and a block before he exited the contest with less than 10 minutes left in the first half and never returned. At the postgame press conference, BU coach Patrick Chambers said that O’Brien played just nine minutes – and zero in the second half – because he was sick and suffering from a stomach virus.
Senior forward John Holland: D
After Holland struggled mightily -- 14 points on 5-of-18 shooting – on Wednesday in BU’s second round matchup against No. 6/7 Villanova University in the Preseason National Invitational Tournament, everyone expected him to bounce back in a big way Friday night against Marist College in the Terriers' home opener at Case. That was not the case, however. The reigning America East Conference scoring king was off the mark all night long, going 2-of-11 from the field, missing 6-of-7 3-pointers and tallying a season-low seven points in 33 minutes. One offensive possession in the second frame described Holland’s overall performance in a nutshell: He missed three consecutive 3-pointers from the exact same spot behind the arc after the Terriers had gathered two offensive boards to keep the offensive series alive. Luckily, thanks to Matt Griffin (we'll get to that later), the Terriers still earned a 21-point blowout even though their top scorer had an off night. Holland has seen his points per game average dip from 25+ points from the first two games of the season to a scoring average that now stands at 18.5 ppg.
Junior forward Patrick Hazel: C+
One thing needs to be made clear: The transfer from Marquette University wasn’t recruited by Chambers to put up mind-boggling offensive numbers or record double-doubles every game. No, he was brought in to block shots, grab rebounds and play tough, hard-nosed defense for the Terriers. And that the co-captain did against the Red Foxes Friday. Hazel had four blocks and snagged a game-high 13 rebounds (eight defensive and five offensive boards). All four of his points came from the charity stripe, as he went 0-for-3 from the field, looked uncomfortable when he gained possession of the ball underneath and could never put up a clean shot inside the paint.
Freshman guard Daryl Partin: B-
Partin came out firing in the early going, getting the Terriers started on the right foot by draining a corner 3 from the left side to give BU an early 3-0 lead at the 19:40 mark of the first frame. On the next possession, he missed a 3 from the same spot. Then, he stole the ball from a Marist player and then missed another jumper. Less than a minute later, Partin sunk a midrange jumper. From that point forward, he cooled off dramatically. He went 1-of-11 the rest of the way and finished the night with only nine points on 3-of-13 shooting (2-of-5 from behind the arc) after such a torrid start. Partin looked like a man on a mission on the offensive side of the ball in the game’s first few minutes, but as the game went along, he could not get any of his shots to fall.
Freshman guard D.J. Irving: B
In limited minutes (16 minutes to be exact), the speedy Irving still put up decent numbers and pushed the ball upcourt at a fast pace when the Terriers were on offense. He contributed seven points on 60 percent shooting (3-of-5 from the field), nailed 1-of-3 shots from 3-point land but had just one assist – an unacceptable number for a team's premier point guard. However, Irving having one assist can be attributed to him picking up four quick fouls. Chambers said Irving didn’t see the minutes he's accustomed to playing because the rookie got into early foul trouble.
Junior guard Matt Griffin: A
A game-high 21 points. A perfect 7-of-7 from the field. A perfect 5-of-5 from the 3-point line. A perfect 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Enough said.
Freshman guard H.J. Gaskins: Incomplete
Chambers plugged in Gaskins during garbage time and with outcome of the game long decided. Gaskins played a season-high and a career-high one minute. He almost recorded his first collegiate points, but his 3-point attempt hit the back iron in the contest’s final seconds.
Freshman guard Mike Terry Jr.: C
Terry Jr. missed both shots that he attempted on the night, but he did play some solid defense on his player, hounding him the entire time the Red Foxes were on offense. He also snagged four rebounds (two offensive, two defensive) and showed off his unselfishness when he assisted on a Holland jumper. Terry Jr. had a wide open 3 near the right wing, but he passed up the open shot and dished the rock to a slumping Holland who nailed the pull-up jumper from the right sideline.
Freshman forward Dom Morris: A-
Don’t know what took him so long, but in the second half, Morris finally that he was stronger, bigger and wider than anyone else on the court. Marist stood no chance in trying to defend the 6-foot-7, 240-pound forward from Delaware. Morris completely dominated the final frame where the Terriers made their decisive run and took control of the game. The freshman only contributed seven points, but most of those points came in the second half when the Terrier offensive needed a spark. Morris also shined on the defensive end as well, grabbing rebounds with authority and clogging up the lane to anyone who tried to get to the cup. He also added two blocks on the night. During the postgame press conference, Morris said Chambers has insisted him all year long to use his different array of skills at both ends of the floor. That he did against the Red Foxes.
Freshman forward Travis Robinson: D+
It sure was evident that the highly touted rookie was seeing his first action in a BU uniform. Robinson looked a little bit too antsy, too aggressive and tried to do too much in his collegiate debut . When he got into the contest nearly seven minutes in, he committed a foul right away. 56 seconds later, he got called for another foul while diving for a loose ball. At one point, Robinson had recorded three fouls in just three minutes. He did notch an assist and a steal in 12 but failed to take any shots.
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