GAMEDAY: Stony Brook University vs. Boston University

Any year but this, a game at home against Stony Brook would be very easy to predict. The Seawolves have never won at Case Gymnasium since they joined America East, going 0-7 at The Roof since the 2000-01 season. In fact, the Terriers have had SBU's number in all meetings, holding a 12-3 record against them all-time. This year, however, Stony Brook is vastly improved and at 9-8, they've opened some eyes around the conference.

That eye-opening didn't transfer to conference play, though, as Stony Brook has stumbled out of the gate to a 1-3 record. They defeated Maryland-Baltimore County to start their AE slate, but then dropped contests to Binghamton, Maine and Vermont (with a win against Dartmouth thrown in the middle to disrupt a would-be losing streak) to set them up for this afternoon's matchup.

Led by junior guard Muhammad El-Amin, who takes 34.7 percent of the Seawolves' shots (a mark that ranks 19th in the nation), the Seawolves can score in a number of ways -- much different than the days when Ricky "do it all for us" Lucas played for coach Steve Pikell. El-Amin is averaging 14.2 points per game and has strung together seven games of double-figure scoring entering today. Complimenting the junior are a pair of freshman who've been very active for SBU -- Bryan Dougher and Tommy Brenton. Dougher is averaging 11.8 points per game while Brenton is a double-double machine as he's already got four this season and leads the team in rebounding (7.8 rebounds per game, 7.3 points per game).

Given BU's increased interior attack, it will be interesting to see how the Terriers handle Brenton on both ends of the floor. If BU rebounds out of the zone as well as they did against Binghamton (heck, if they do a lot of things as well as they did against Binghamton) they'll be in good shape. Again, the player to watch for the Terriers will be John Holland, who's been lighting teams up lately with 97 points in four conference games. If BU wins this afternoon (in a game that was switched from 7:00 p.m. to coincide with Martin Luther King Jr. ceremonies), they'll be above .500 in conference play for the first time all season and it will be their first winning streak since they won three-straight from November 18-25.

Projected starting lineups:

Stat of the Week

97

The number of points sophomore guard John Holland has scored in four games against America East opponents. Holland has only scored under 20 points in one game (19 against Vermont) and logged a season-high 28 against Binghamton on Saturday. Holland's recent streak has been the best of his career as he's playing with more confidence than he ever has. BU coach Dennis Wolff is pleased with how controlled Holland looks off the dribble, the decisions he's making with the basketball and his defense. The switch from a man-to-man scheme to a zone defense has helped Holland tremendously and perhaps aided him on the offensive end as well. He's been the best player in the conference over the last four games and the Terriers will need him to continue his accelerated play if they hope to continue winning.

The Day After: BU 81, Binghamton 64

Usually, by this point in a season, a team has somewhat established itself. Fans can get a good sense of what to expect on a nightly basis and change their hopes as believes based on that. With the Boston University men's basketball team, however, that's not even close to the case.

The Terriers, if anything else, have kept things interesting with a number of developing plot lines related to game performances that have made it impossible to predict what team will show up on a given night. Comparing BU's performances against Cornell, Holy Cross and Vermont to their efforts against Northeastern, Notre Dame and Binghamton, you'd think you were analyzing two different teams.

The team that showed up on Saturday against Binghamton -- one of the better teams at the start of the conference schedule, but is on a three-game losing streak -- was a glimpse as to how good (even with two of their top five scorers) the Terriers could be. BU coach Dennis Wolff called it the best team effort of the season, and that was evident in the box score (81-64). Every member of the team save Marques Johnson (eight minutes) had a major impact on the victory and they did so where it didn't show in the box score as well -- defense. The matchup zone was extremely successful against Binghamton, especially their best player in D.J. Rivera (who came in averaging 20.9 points per game) who didn't lead the Bearcats in scoring for the first time all season.

There's no doubt the Terriers don't deserve to be written off whatsoever, especially given the way the conference has played out thus far. America East is one of the more wide-open conferences in the nation and it will be interesting to see how the games shake out on a nightly basis, because (as we've seen) it's hard to know what team will show up on any given night. But, if the Terriers that embarassed Binghamton on their home floor Saturday shows up more often than not, there's no reason BU shouldn't be re-inserted into the talk about potential conference champions.

Pros:
-- Second-half intensity: After losing a grip on a 12-point advantage early in the first half and entering the break up by four, the Terriers came out firing, extending the lead and burying the Bearcats. A fantastic sign for a team that has trouble closing games out.
-- Five dunks: Wolff was searching for aggressiveness and five dunks should have found it, including one by Scott Brittain (his first of the season).

Cons:
-- Marques Johnson's minutes: Wolff said the players on the floor were playing well, which is very true as the individual efforts were all excellent, but Johnson might need more playing time if BU begins to have turnover issues or become fatigued.
-- Binghamton's late run: This is being picky, but it's never good to see 9-0 runs no matter what the score.

Links:
Holland-led Terriers bounce back, rout Binghamton
Boston flattens Bearcats

Around the League: 1.17.09

Saturday's games:

Maine 72, Albany 61
Continuing the pattern established by other America East front-runners, Albany (11-7, 3-2 America East) found its position atop the conference a bit too much to maintain. Maine (7-11, 2-3 AE) linked two extended runs together late in the first half and early in the second, outscoring the Danes 36-12 to build a 23-point lead with less than 12 minutes remaining. Albany was even with its opponent in rebounding and won the turnover battle but allowed Maine to attempt 24 more free throws. The Black Bears took advantage, making 27 from the charity stripe to supplement nearly 48 percent shooting from the field. Kaimondre Owes led Maine with 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The Black Bears stay at the Alfond to welcome conference leaders New Hampshire (more on that later) this Monday, while Albany seeks to protect its still-unblemished home record this Friday against Stony Brook.

Vermont 83, Stony Brook 72
Speaking of games won at the free throw line, Vermont (11-6, 2-2 AE) followed that strategy to a T this afternoon, making 35 of 47 attempts from the line in a game that was closer than the final score indicates. Stony Brook (9-8, 1-3 AE) trailed virtually the entire game, but when Dallis Joyner's jumper fell with 6:01 remaining the Seawolves were within one and red-hot from the field. The Seawolves' comeback attempt stopped there, however, as Marqus Blakely answered for Vermont on the other end to spark a 15-3 run that put the game away. Mike Trimboli arguably benefitted the most from the Catamounts' free-throw parade, scoring 15 points despite 1-of-8 shooting from the field. Stony Brook shot over 55 percent from its home court only to drop its third straight conference game. The Brook heads to Boston for a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day showdown, while Vermont will try to build on its two-game winning streak that evening against Maryland-Baltimore County.

Maryland-Baltimore County 69, Hartford 60
The Retrievers can be dangerous when their scoring options aren't limited to Darryl Proctor. Today was no exception, as five players reached double-digits for Maryland-Baltimore County (8-8, 2-2 AE) en route to victory. In a game characterized by excellent ball-handling and even play on the boards, the Hawks' shooting -- hampered, no doubt, with Joe Zeglinski out for the season -- proved to be its downfall. Hartford (6-12, 2-2 AE) shot less than 35 percent for the game and couldn't generate enough second chance opportunities to make up the difference. Morgan Sabia led all scorers with 18 points in a losing effort. Hartford continues its road trip by heading to Binghamton for a game on Monday, while UMBC hits the road for a battle of .500 teams in Burlington.

New Hampshire 68, Dartmouth 59
The Wildcats defeated their in-state rivals with relative ease, becoming the third America East team to beat the Big Green this season. Dartmouth (2-13, 0-1 Ivy) dropped its eighth straight contest and has yet to beat a Division-I opponent in Hanover during the present campaign. New Hampshire (7-8, 2-1 AE) has won four of its last five and somehow finds itself atop the conference standings less than a week after its blowout loss in Boston. In a game where most statistical categories were fairly even, New Hampshire's five additional made three-point attempts proved the deciding factor. More than half of the Wildcats' makes from beyond the arc came courtesy of Tyrone Conley, who led UNH with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. New Hampshire looks to continue its recent success this Monday in Orono.

Sunday's games:
There are no games scheduled. America East play resumes on Monday.

A Century of Tradition: The other BU

Searching for "BU" on the Internet used to produce results ranging from Boston to Bucknell to Baylor. There's a fair bit of confusion about which institution is "the real BU." Of course, with Google's ability to tailor search results based on an individual's search history and IP address, the effect I refer to is somewhat more difficult to replicate. Technology tends to do that.

Still, the point remains: Which school has the rights to the second and twenty-first letters of the Roman alphabet depends largely on who you ask. Confusion isn't alleviated by limiting the query to America East. Both Boston and Binghamton lay claim to the initials. The Terriers have some advantages in this debate, being an older institution with a richer basketball history, but for our purposes we'll stick with the ultimate arbiter of hoops debates: the head-to-head results on the court.

Binghamton's first season at the Division-I level was the 2001-02 campaign, when the Terriers made their most recent trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats were just four years removed from Division-III competition. The adjustment period wasn't overly long, but it existed. Dennis Wolff's team swept the America East newcomers in each of the first three seasons. In their fourth season in the conference, the Bearcats finally won a game, splitting the season series and beating rival Albany to the punch (the Great Danes had yet to defeat Boston).

After the Terriers' initial dominance, recent years have been more balanced. While individual games haven't been close -- five of the last six contests were decided by double digits -- the overall series has evened out somewhat. The Terriers' 11-4 advantage overall, though substantial, is entirely a product of winning the first seven meetings.

Of course, outside the major conferences, tournament play is the be-all and end-all of college basketball. On America East's biggest stage, in their only meeting to date, Boston University holds the edge, winning a conference quarterfinal 62-58 in March of 2007. It's a small sample size, but Binghamton has yet to come through against the Terriers with something on the line. Until then, Boston fans will continue to insist on calling Binghamton by its full name -- there can be only one BU.

The Day After: Vermont 70, BU 56

Pros:
-- Building an early lead: The Terriers were able to jump on the Catamounts despite a terrible crowd at Agganis and the talented team that Mike Lonergan's assembled. One wonders if the result would have been different had BU not collapsed before the half.
-- Zone defense: While suspect late in the second half, BU's zone held the Catamounts t0 28 points in the first half. And for a team that's averaging above 75 points per game, that mark is pretty impressive, especially since the Terriers are still learning the intricacies of the matchup zone.

Cons:
-- Agganis losing streak:
-- End-game effort: It appeared as though after the scrum between Matt Wolff and Marqus Blakely, UVM took complete control of the momentum and put the Terriers away to the point of non-effort in the final minutes of the game.
-- Inability to break the press: Even though they worked on it in practice, the Terriers were unable to solve UVM's full-court press, leading to a slew of costly turnovers.

Links:
Cat-astrophe
Catamounts' Full White Press forces 13 turnovers, keys victory over BU

Post-game Audio & Photos (Vermont 70, BU 56)

BU coach Dennis Wolff's opening statement following a 70-56 loss to Vermont


Wolff discusses losing the 11-point first half lead


Wolff's team will have problems if it gets into foul trouble


Wolff reflects on the competitiveness of America East


UVM coach Mike Lonergan's opening statement


Lonergan praises his teams' full-court press


Marqus Blakely talks about coming off the bench


Lonergan discusses rebounding and teams double teaming Blakely


Blakely has seen many more double teams in the post this season

Around the League: 1.14.09

Wednesday's games:

Hartford 76, Maine 71
Hartford (6-11, 2-1 America East) never trailed and improved to 2-0 at home in conference play with a win over the Black Bears. The Hawks picked up assists on 80 percent of their baskets, carving up the Maine defense and shooting better than 50 percent. The good shooting was necessary -- Maine (6-11, 1-3 AE) performed even better on the boards than their plus-eight rebounding margin would suggest and made 16-0f-19 from the charity stripe. In the end, though, efficient offense carried the day. Jaret von Rosenberg's performance was particularly notable: 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting with five assists and no turnovers. Sean McNally had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Black Bears. Hartford travels to Maryland-Baltimore County on Saturday, while Maine hosts Albany the same day.

New Hampshire 65, Maryland-Baltimore County 47
The Wildcats bounced back from their crushing loss at Boston University with a big win on their home court against the Retrievers. UMBC (7-8, 1-2 AE) turned in its third consecutive underwhelming performance in conference play, losing the lead midway through the first half and never putting up much of a fight in the second frame. UNH (6-8, 2-1 AE) was aided by a return to competent shooting from beyond the arc (6-of-16) and excellent rebounding. Despite no individual player exceeding seven rebounds, the Wildcats compiled 39 rebounds to the Retrievers' 23, affording the home team additional shooting opportunities and helping the Wildcats pull away in the second half. New Hampshire travels to Dartmouth for an in-state battle on Saturday; the Retrievers' Saturday game is home versus Hartford.

Albany 72, Binghamton 66
The red-hot Danes picked up a third consecutive win, this one against the rival Bearcats. Albany (11-6, 3-1 AE) moved in to a tie for first place with Binghamton on the strength of its free-throw shooting. Binghamton (10-6, 3-1 AE) shot 29 free throws, as did Albany, but Albany made 23 while the Bearcats managed to sink less than half of their attempts. Will Harris had a double-double and the Albany starting backcourt of Anthony Raffa and Tim Ambrose combined for 41 points, enough to overcome surprisingly strong perimeter shooting from Binghamton (the Bearcats shot 10-of-25 from beyond the arc). Binghamton hopes to recover when it hosts Boston on Saturday; Albany travels to Orono for their weekend contest.

Thursday's games:

No games scheduled. America East play resumes on Saturday.

Live Blog: University of Vermont v. Boston University

Tonight's game between the University of Vermont Catamounts (9-6, 0-2) and the Boston University Terriers (6-8, 1-1) tips off at 7:30 p.m. as part of a doubleheader at Agganis Arena.

Here are the starting lineups for tonight's game:

University of Vermont Catamounts
12 G Nick Vier
13 G Mike Trimboli
21 G Garvey Young
40 F Colin McIntosh
45 F Garrett Kissel

Boston University Terriers
02 F Matt Wolff
13 G Corey Lowe
21 F Jake O'Brien
23 F John Holland
31 F Scott Brittain

Final Score: University of Vermont 70, Boston University 56

Leading scorers:
UVM -- Colin McIntosh, 17
BU -- John Holland, 19

Leading rebounders:
UVM -- Two tied at eight
BU -- John Holland, 5

Leading assists:
UVM -- Mike Trimboli, 5
BU -- Marques Johnson, 3

GAMEDAY: University of Vermont vs. Boston University

Things have been a little hectic beginning the new year for the Terriers, but perhaps there's one bigger surprise in the league than BU's underachieving non-conference portion of the schedule -- the University of Vermont's 0-2 start to America East play. In a league where the champion may only lose two or three games all season, the team that established itself as a prominent favorite after BU began to falter was UVM. Boasting a prolific offense filled with scorers who can torch teams in a number of ways, the Catamounts are averaging 78.1 points per game and enjoyed a successful non-conference schedule.

Losses to Binghamton University and the University at Albany, however, have somewhat turned the league upside down and given teams (if they didn't already believe so) the hope that any one opponent can beat any other on any given night -- especially since Albany's win came at Patrick Gymnasium.

The Terriers, playing without two of their top five scorers (Carlos Strong and Tyler Morris who are both out for the season) will need to adapt exactly that mentality if they hope to topple the Catamounts. BU's new blend of inside-outside offense could aid the Terriers and help eliminate extended dry spells while shooting from the perimeter, especially at Agganis Arena, where the team hasn't been known to shoot particularly well. Speaking of top scorers, Wednesday's game (which will be televised on NESN and ESPN Full Court) will feature five of the top seven scorers in America East in UVM's Mike Trimboli (15.8), Marqus Blakely (15.3) and Colin McIntosh (14.0) and BU's Corey Lowe (17.0) and John Holland (15.8).

Perhaps more so than BU's new offensive mentality, Holland could have one of the biggest impacts on the game. Coming off two consecutive 25-point performances to begin league play and a recent America East Player of the Week award (shared with UMBC's Darryl Proctor), BU coach Dennis Wolff has said Holland's played two of the best games he's ever played as a Terrier. If Holland's hot streak continues, the Catamounts will be forced to key-in on the dangerous weapon who can score from anywhere on the floor and that will make things a lot easier for BU's other scorers. Perhaps Holland has benefited from the team's change in defense, switching from man-to-man to a zone after news of the injuries to prevent a high number of fouls as well as fatigue. It will be interesting to see how UVM's high-powered offense reacts to the Terriers' zone and how they will try to break it given their extremely deep and balanced amount of offensive talent.

Projected starting lineups: