Men’s basketball earns No. 1 seed in Patriot League Tournament

By Christopher Deal Rosa/DFP Staff

WORCESTER – Coming into Saturday’s matchup against the College of the Holy Cross, the Boston University men’s basketball team had a lot at stake. A win would clinch the regular season Patriot League title and guarantee home-court advantage throughout the upcoming Patriot League Tournament.

Aided by the performances of senior forward Dom Morris and senior guard D.J. Irving, the Terriers (22-9, 15-3 Patriot League) got past the Crusaders (18-12, 12-6 Patriot League),68-64, to secure the program’s first-ever regular-season Patriot League championship.

“It’s fitting, the way the season’s gone for us that we had to persevere [to win],” said BU coach Joe Jones.

Much of the game’s momentum shifted back-and-forth between the two squads.  At the 12:12 mark of the first half, the Terriers jumped ahead of the Crusaders 15-7 after a 3-pointer from freshman guard Cedric Hankerson, but were unable to keep the stretch going.

With a 3-pointer from the top of the key and a layup make, senior guard and captain Dave Dudzinksi started a 13-2 Crusaders run that would put them ahead of BU by three points with 6:15 to go in the half. In the first, the senior scored 14 points and went 6-of-9 from the field.

“I wasn’t pleased that he was scoring as much, but I was more concerned about us offensively,” Jones said. “They were dictating what we were doing offensively with their defense, they were pushing us out, denying passes, and so we had a hard time getting into a rhythm offensively and even though we had the lead, I didn’t think we were playing with a rhythm.”
For the remainder of the frame, the two teams went shot-for-shot, but the Terriers ultimately got the best of the Crusaders thanks to the play of Irving. In a span of 25 seconds, Irving sank two free throws, grabbed a defensive rebound on the ensuing Holy Cross possession and laid the ball in on a fast break to give BU a 30-25 lead with 54 seconds remaining.

On the final Holy Cross possession, the Crusaders answered, as guard Justin Burrell drained a 3-pointer to end the half with the score 30-28 in favor of the Terriers.

Led by Dudzinski at the start of the second half, the Crusaders went ahead 43-38 with 15:56 remaining in the game. To make matters worse, sophomore guard Maurice Watson Jr., also picked up his fourth personal foul, which forced him to take a seat on the bench.

Following Watson’s exit, sophomore forward Nathan Dieudonne and senior guard Travis Robinson stepped in and hit crucial 3-pointers that helped BU go on a 10-0 run to take a 48-43 lead with 12:36 left.

Holy Cross would not go down quietly though, and a 3-pointer by freshman Malachi Alexander put the Crusaders behind 66-64 with 1:46 to play.  On the following BU possession, Watson carried the ball down and drove to the hoop.  Watson’s shot did not fall, but he was able to grab the rebound, allowing the Terriers to kill more time off the clock.

With 58.7 seconds left, Jones called a timeout to settle down his team. After running the clock down, sophomore guard John Papale took a contested jumper from the corner that did not fall.

On the other end, with about 15 seconds remaining in the contest, freshman Anthony Thompson tried to put a shot up against Morris, who stonewalled the guard, forcing him to drop the ball, resulting in a Robinson steal. The ball was kicked out to Irving, who was subsequently fouled with 8.7 seconds left. The senior ended up hitting two free throws, sealing the Terrier victory.

“I like that moment,” Irving said of being on the foul line. “That moment is the time where I thrive, I don’t really feel pressure at those times, I feel like that’s what I’m supposed to do, so I go out there and do it.”

Irving ended the game with 15 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Morris added 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

With the win, BU will take on the winner of the game between Loyola University-Maryland and Lafayette College in the quarterfinal roundWednesday night at Agganis Arena.

Morris said the clinching of the regular-season title was an important achievement for the team.

“I would say we should allow ourselves to pat ourselves on the back,” Morris said. “It’s a great accomplishment no matter what conference, level or division you’re in.”

The Day After: Holy Cross 68, BU 49

Another game, another plethora of questions regarding BU coach Dennis Wolff's postgame comments. According to reporters who attended the press conference (nobody from FCP was there), Wolff said that there are internal issues affecting the team and that the junior and senior leaders' off-court actions are affecting what's happening with the team on the court.

It didn't seem possible for things to get worse after the Terriers' 89-59 loss to Cornell Monday, but their most recent effort against Holy Cross may have been. The Crusaders had never won a game on the road prior to their victory at Agganis Arena and had an RPI in the 300's. BU, however, seemed helpless against Holy Cross' matchup zone and it in the last three games of BU's four-game losing streak -- when opposing coaches really keyed in on stopping BU's 3-point attempts -- the Terriers have done nothing to adjust.

It's unclear as to whether the onus should fall on the coaching staff or players for not being able to react when their long-range shooting game is neutralized. The fact of the matter is that if it's not fixed, the Terriers won't win many conference games.

As for Wolff's comments, it's a shame that it appears the junior and senior classes aren't leading as well as they should be. There's no doubt all of the junior and seniors are of good character and appeared hungry to win/ready to prove doubters wrong and the beginning of the season. But now, at the slightest hint a collapse, the wheels have started to fall off. That would have been allowable when the Terriers were largely comprised of freshman and sophomores (as they were the last two seasons), but as an older team in the league, there's really no excuse for the lack of leadership, which seemed to culminate (in-game, at least) with Corey Lowe picking up his second technical of the game late in the second half and fouling out.

Still, if it weren't for Wolff's post-game comments, there wouldn't be much of a reason to press the panic button. As important as non-conference play is for boosting the team and America East RPI, it doesn't have a vast impact on the season as a whole, or BU's tournament hopes. Sure, it can toy with momentum, but the Terriers proved last season they're able to enter conference play on a dreadful losing streak where all appeared lost and then have an extremely successful conference campaign. The problem comes when the coach says there are "internal issues" hampering the team. In any organization, sports or otherwise, that's never a good thing.

If the Terriers can't overcome whatever issues are corroding practice and game preparation, as well as in-game execution, things won't get any better. Even with BU's two most recent losses (by a total of 49 points), all is not lost on the season. The schedule is 27 games long for a reason and despite the horrendous efforts by the Terriers in their last three games, as Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said at his press conference following a near loss against this very BU team, it's "college basketball, man."

Pros:
-- Jake O'Brien's discipline: O'Brien, for being a freshman, is a very savvy player and was one of the only Terriers on the court who appeared confident in what he was doing on offense and didn't get too far out of rhythm. He was BU's only player to score double digits in points.
-- Jeff Pelage's overall game: Pelage was impressive for the second-straight game as he scored a career-high nine points and grabbed five rebounds. He also looked steady more often than not on the defensive end. If he gets going, he could be a gigantic help to BU and its interior during conference play.

Cons:
-- Defense: As poor as the offense was against Holy Cross, the defense was just as bad. BU allowed 68 points (many of them easy) to one of the worst offensive teams in the nation. For a program that prides itself on defensive intensity, it's been nowhere to be found in BU's last three games.
-- Corey Lowe's performance: Not only the undisciplined technicals, but his entire game was off. He didn't make a 3-pointer for just the fifth time in his career at BU and didn't appear comfortable at any point in the game. Lowe is the undisputed key to BU's offense performing well and the Terriers can't afford many more poor outings from him the rest of the way.
-- John Holland's gameflow: Usually, there's only two pros and cons in this post, but there are bonus cons after the loss to Holy Cross. It was that bad. Holland hasn't appeared himself on offense since his hot start against Notre Dame. He's getting open looks a majority of the time, just not knocking them down. He, too, will need to step up if BU hopes to turn it around.
-- Scott Brittain's situation: Brittain didn't get into the game against Holy Cross and could be in Wolff's doghouse again. He was one of BU's best inside scorers over the last two seasons and has shown talent in the past. Even if O'Brien and Pelage are better options, Brittain should still be getting into games.

Links:
A holy mess
Road victory is first for HC
Crusaders roll over Terriers

Live Blog: College of the Holy Cross vs. Boston University

Tonight's game between the College of the Holy Cross Crusaders (4-9) and Boston University Terriers (5-6) tips-off at 7:00 p.m. at Agganis Arena.

Here are the projected starting lineups for tonight's game. John Holland has been confirmed as a starter by BU coach Dennis Wolff after Carlos Strong started at Cornell over the sophomore forward.

Also, please welcome a guest blogger for tonight's game, Brian Fadem, who's helping us out courtside for tonight's game as Matt and I are both still home for the holidays.

College of the Holy Cross Crusaders
10 G R.J. Evans
22 G Andrew Beinert
33 F Colin Cunningham
34 F Andrew Keister
45 C Greg McCarthy

Boston University Terriers
02 F Matt Wolff
13 G Corey Lowe
21 F Jake O'Brien
23 F John Holland
24 G Tyler Morris

Final: College of the Holy Cross 68, Boston University 49

Leading scorers:
HC -- Andrew Beinert, 18
BU -- Jake O'Brien, 16

Leading rebounders:
HC -- Andrew Keister, 11
BU -- Jeff Pelage, 5

Leading assists:
HC -- Colin Cunningham, 4
BU -- Matt Wolff, 5

GAMEDAY: College of the Holy Cross vs. Boston University

If you're a fan of good timing, there's probably none better than tonight's opponent for a Boston University team struggling to find itself. After a fairly impressive/encouraging start to the season, the Terriers have hit a low point through 11 games, losing their most recent contest to defending Ivy League champion Cornell in embarrassing fashion (89-59). Following the game, BU coach Dennis Wolff challenged his team to start playing and practicing better or be exposed as a phony squad. A win against Holy Cross in BU's first game of the new year would go a long way to getting the team picked to win America East at the start of the season on the right track.

While, historically, the Terriers have had more trouble against the Crusaders than any other team in their history, Holy Cross is experiencing a rough season thus far. The series between the intrastate teams dates back to 1903, with Holy Cross holding a 50-12 advantage, having won the last five meetings -- though BU has lost the previous two games by a total of six points. This year, despite all of BU's troubles, the Crusaders may be floundering even more, especially on the road where they're 0-6. Even more encouraging for BU is that Holy Cross has lost to three team's the Terriers have defeated -- Harvard, Northeastern and Yale.

Statistically, the Crusaders rank 340th in the nation in free-throw percentage (57.3) and 339th in steal percentage (14.2). [Sidenote: In a bit of an oddity, Holy Cross' Devin Brown is third in the nation in free-throw percentage at 94.6 percent]. The Terriers are fairly good at creating turnovers, so that -- coupled with the fact that Holy Cross can't -- means that if BU isn't careless with the ball, they should get more possessions than the Crusaders. That would be a good thing given the historically mediocre shooting performances the team has at Agganis arena. That said, BU's last outing at Agganis produced 80 points on the strength of a career-high 36 by Corey Lowe, so the "Agganis Curse" (as it's come to be known this season) shouldn't be an issue. The atmosphere, however, might as the students are still off and the arena will most likely feel very empty.

One cause for concern is Holy Cross' ability to rebound offensively. Their 40.5 offensive rebounding efficiency ranks 20th in the nation, so if the Crusaders are able to dominate the interior, BU could once again be overwhelmed by a talented group of big men like it was against Cornell. If, however, Jeff Pelage receives significant minutes for the second-straight game, the freshman forward could help immensely in establishing a physical presence in the low post. If the Terriers can hold their own and limit Holy Cross' inside buckets, the Crusaders don't have many shooters on the perimeter as only 27.1 percent of their shots are taken from beyond the arc (compared to 45.9 percent for BU). Holy Cross also has just one player averaging double figures in scoring -- freshman guard R.J. Evans (13.5 points per game) -- as its offensive is one of the worst in the country. The Crusaders have started nine different players through 13 games this year, but still haven't found the right combination.

By no means is this game a must-win in regard to the standings, but in regard to the mentality of the team before entering conference play, it's pretty close. With a difficult test against the University at Albany looming as the first conference battle for BU, turning around the negative aura surrounding the current three-game losing streak prior to that matchup would be extremely beneficial for the Terriers.

It has been confirmed by Wolff that John Holland has earned his starting spot back for tonight's game and will be one of the first five on the floor for BU tonight, pushing Carlos Strong back into his natural role of sixth man.

Projected starting lineups:

A Century of Tradition: New Year's Edition

While the rest of the country is recovering from New Year's Eve festivities, the college basketball season continues on. There are ten games tonight, including a marquee matchup between 12-1 Villanova and 11-2 Marquette. But we aren't concerned with Big East basketball -- at least, we aren't for this feature. What has BU done on New Year's Day?

Like a lot of other notable dates on the calendar, the Terriers rarely play on New Year's Day. In fact, there's only one game in BU's annals corresponding to January 1st. On the first of 1968, the Terriers trekked down to Philadelphia to square off against Penn in the two teams' only meeting to date. BU lost 75-56. If the Terriers have played other games to open the calendar year, they came in seasons where the records are incomplete -- and there are a lot of those. As late as the 1965-66 season, not all of the date information is complete.

As for New Year's Eve, the Terriers have played twice as many games on that day. Yes, that's two games, but still, it's something. BU's results in those games are somewhat better. The more recent result was a five-point loss to Oklahoma in the Rainbow Classic. The other result? The Terriers' only New Year's victory, a 69-63 win at Richmond.

We'll see what the new year brings for Dennis Wolff's team tomorrow when Holy Cross comes to town. Holy Cross and BU have a long shared history on the basketball court, but it's not one which favors BU. The Terriers are 11-52 all-time against the Crusaders; the 41-games under .500 mark is BU's worst against any team.