Thursday, January 31, 2013

From the FreeP: Terriers prepare for another game vs Hartford

By Michael Bagarella/DFP Staff

The Boston University men’s basketball team will start its final tour of the America East Saturday afternoon in West Hartford, Conn., when it plays University of Hartford for the second time this season.

In their first meeting of the 2012-13 season, Hartford (11–9, 4–3 America East) defeated BU (11–10, 5–3 America East) at Case Gymnasium, 77–74. The game was close for the first half and into the second half until BU started to pull away. After a 3-pointer from sophomore forward Malik Thomas at 11:37 in the second half, the Terriers had their largest lead of the game, ahead of Hartford by a score of 57–49. But it went downhill from there for BU.

With five minutes to go in the game, the Hawks went on a run that ended the Terriers’ lead and eventually buried a BU squad that had been consistently playing poorly at the end of games.

“We didn’t close the game out,” said BU coach Joe Jones of the matchup. “We turned them over, but we didn’t get stops when we needed, so overall we didn’t defend great.”

Read more at dailyfreepress.com.

From the FreeP: Men’s basketball saying goodbye to America East

By Michael Bagarella/DFP Staff 

Farewell Tour

When the Boston University men’s basketball team travels to Hartford, CT. Saturday, it will officially begin its final go-around as a member of the America East Conference.

After this season, all BU sports — with the exception of men’s and women’s ice hockey, which will remain in the prestigious Hockey East — will move from the America East to the Patriot League. Since joining the America East in 1979, BU (11–10, 5–3 America East) has made the NIT four times (2002-2005) and the NCAA tournament once as a 16-seed in 2011 when it lost to then-No. 1 University of Kansas in the first round.

At one point, current University of Louisville head coach and former Boston Celtics head coach Rick Pitino, coached the Terriers.

“A lot of the coaches in this league are guys that I have been friends with a long time,” said BU coach Joe Jones. “Situations happen. I don’t know if any of the coaches were involved, but people made decisions.”

Read more at dailyfreepress.com.

Monday, January 28, 2013

From the FreeP: Terriers overcome difficult first half to defeat UMBC at Case Gymnasium

By Christopher Dela Rosa/DFP Staff

The Boston University men’s basketball team defeated the University of Maryland-Baltimore County 81–75 Saturday afternoon, but did not walk away without some criticism from its coach.

“No matter what you try to do, when you’re a coach, and every coach feels this way, You’re telling your team they’ve got good players, don’t think about their record, they played this team tough, they played that team tough, they do a good job, they listen to their coach,” said BU (11–10, 5–3 America East) coach Joe Jones at the beginning of his news conference.

“No matter what you say, I think there’s going to be some times where coaches just feel like kids just have a hard time of understanding the importance of doing things correctly and with energy day in and day out,” Jones added. “This was a complete example of that, we came out flat, with no energy right from the start.”

He was correct in stating that his team came out flat at the beginning of its contest against the Retrievers (4–16, 2–5 America East).

Read more at dailyfreepress.com.

From the FreeP: Effort, preparedness issues in BU’s recent victory against over-looked UMBC team

By Michael Bagarella/DFP Staff 

Even though it was able to defeat the University of Maryland-Baltimore County for its third straight victory Saturday afternoon, the Boston University men’s basketball team came out with a lack of effort and preparedness that disappointed BU coach Joe Jones.

“Whether the Albany game, the overtime win, the emotional win at Albany had anything to do with it, who knows,” Jones said. “But the bottom line is we did not come out with the energy that it takes to be a great team—that’s what we are striving for and we didn’t do it tonight.”

UMBC (4–16, 2–5 America East) entered the contest with a less-than-spectacular record, but Jones understood that it was not a team to be taken lightly. Earlier this year, despite its lack of a consistent offense, UMBC was able to open its game against Hartford with a 20–0 run.

The Terriers’ (11–10, 5–3 America East) lack of concentration and effort was apparent immediately. UMBC opened the game on a 7–0 run in which the Terriers botched an inbound pass that opened the door for a quick 4–0 lead for the Retrievers within the first thirty seconds.

Read more at dailyfreepress.com.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

BU-UMBC Slideshow

All photos by Michelle Jay/DFP Staff




Saturday, January 26, 2013

BU vs UMBC Live Blog

Friday, January 25, 2013

From the FreeP: BU defeats Albany in overtime

By Michael Bagarella/DFP Staff

In a rollercoaster overtime thriller, the Boston University men’s basketball team defeated the conference-leading University at Albany, 85–80.

“It was a quality win,” said BU (10–10, 4–3 America East) coach Joe Jones. “A big win on the road. We have a lot of respect for that team and their style of play, but it was a great win for us — one of the best since we’ve been here.”

The University at Albany (16–5, 5–2 America East) entered as the highest-scoring team in the America East Conference. The Great Danes were also riding a four-game winning streak.

BU stayed with Albany for the first 10 minutes of the first half, preventing the Albany offense from getting started. Nine minutes into the frame, freshman guard Maurice Watson Jr. began draining shots for the Terriers.

Read more at dailyfreepress.com.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Terriers prepare for conference match

By René Reyes/DFP Staff

Earlier this month at Case Gymnasium, Boston University coach Joe Jones dubbed his men’s basketball team’s victory over the University of Vermont a “character win.”

Despite missing two starters in freshman forward Nathan Dieudonne and junior forward Travis Robinson to injuries, the Terriers (9–10, 3–3 America East) pulled off the first upset of the America East stretch of the season with a 10-point win over the defending-champion Catamounts (12–6, 5–1 America East).

Now, two weeks later, BU will face another litmus test Wednesday night in the form of the league-leading University at Albany, which has rattled off four straight victories after receiving a 25-point thumping by Vermont on Jan. 5.

“They got handled pretty good by Vermont like we did at Stony Brook [University] and that can happen,” Jones said. “They’re tough and they’ve proven it. They’re 16 –4. They’ve been pretty good outside of that Vermont game, but that happens. That could happen on the road. They’re a very good basketball team.”

Read more at dailyfreepress.com.

Monday, January 21, 2013

BU defeats New Hampshire in important America East contest

By Christopher Dela Rosa/DFP Staff

DURHAM, N.H. – On Saturday afternoon, the Boston University men’s basketball team was able to rebound from a painful loss and beat the University of New Hampshire, 69–59.

After losing 75–48 to Stony Brook University last Tuesday, BU (9–10, 3–3 America East) was up against a less daunting opponent in the Wildcats (4–13, 0–5 America East). Going into the meeting, the Wildcats were in the midst of a seven-game losing streak.

At first, things did not seem to be going in BU’s favor, as New Hampshire won the tip and immediately got the ball to one of its best players, forward Patrick Konan. Konan tried a layup and was denied, but he got his own rebound and scored.

Junior forward Dom Morris, who has finally begun to produce consistently in the paint, was able to tie up the game with a layup of his own.

Read more at dailyfreepress.com.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Live Blog: BU @ New Hampshire

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

From the FreeP: BU suffers blowout loss to Stony Brook

By Christopher Dela Rosa/DFP Staff

After a first-half 14–0 run was executed by the University of Stony Brook, the Boston University men’s basketball team was unable to recover its lost lead and endured a  75–48 loss.

The Terriers (8–10, 2–3 America East) started league play on a bad note after losing by eight against the University of Maine and then by three against the University of Hartford.

Those two losses left the Terriers hungry going into their game against the University of Vermont on Jan. 8, where they unleashed on the Catamounts (10–6, 3–1 America East) with a 41-point second half, which led them to a 63–53 victory.

BU hosted Binghamton University at Case Gym on Saturday and easily defeated the Bearcats (2–15, 0–4 America East), 83–59.

Tuesday night, the Terriers traveled to Long Island, N.Y. to take on the America East’s top team, SBU (13–4, 4–0 America East). It was one of the weakest displays by the Terriers all season, as they were defeated by 27 points.

For more, visit dailyfreepress.com