It has been a rather disappointing first half of the season for Boston University’s men’s basketball team. The Terriers are currently sitting at 3–6 following a series of disappointing losses.
BU’s season started off with high hopes. It was able to recruit some new players that
it hoped would work into the roster immediately.
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| Maurice Watson Jr. (Photo: Steve McLaughlin) |
Its top recruit was freshman Maurice Watson Jr. out of
Landsowne, Pa., a small but speedy point guard that can spread the ball around
while creating his own shot.
Next was Wallingford, Conn., native guard John Papale, one
of the nation’s top high school 3-point shooters. Papale, BU’s equivalent to Knicks sensation
Steve Novak, has had a rather impressive season, making a slew of 3-pointers to
start his college career.
The third recruit was this year’s Kentucky Mr. Basketball,
Nathan Dieudonne. The 6-foot-7 forward
has done a solid job at the starting power forward position this season.
The season began with heartbreak for the Terriers, as they
traveled across Boston to play against Northeastern University at Matthews
Arena. With a two-point lead and the
ball in the Huskies’ (4–5) hands, BU was in control of its own fate.
However, BU fell asleep at the wheel and gave up a wide open
three-pointer that went in with 0.7 seconds left. With no timeouts left, all hope was lost for
the Terriers as they suffered their first loss of the season.
BU’s bad luck continued as it traveled to Buffalo, N.Y. the
following week and allowed another game to slip out of its hands as Canisius
College pulled away in the final minutes to win, 83–75.
Things went from bad to worse for the Terriers during their
first home game against George Washington University when they fell, 72–59.
The Terriers then traveled down to New Brunswick, N.J. to
try to pick up their first win against Rutgers University. But with a very late
flagrant foul, BU put itself out of position to beat the Scarlet Knights (7–2).
A second buzzer-beater loss came the very next game when
George Mason University scored a game-winning layup en route to a three-point
play to edge the Terriers, 48–45.
“The big thing I think, I felt that we controlled the
majority of the three toughest losses [George Mason, Harvard and Northeastern]
and did a good job. I thought in each of
those game we were not able to get a stop at the end of the game and it came
down to one possession at the end of the game and we couldn’t get a stop,” said
BU coach Joe Jones.
In its second home game, the team took a few steps in the
right direction against Coastal Carolina University. Facing a tough Chanticleer’s (2–5) team that
had the nation’s second-best shooter at the time, BU went on several runs and
easily defeated Coastal Carolina, 74–44, to pick up its first victory.
That win was the start of a three-game win streak for the
Terriers, helping the team rebound from a shaky start.
Unfortunately for the Terriers, that win streak came to a
bitter end against another local school. BU made the short trip from its campus in Boston over to Allston to take
on Harvard. It fell to the Crimson (5–4)
on a last–second shot by Harvard point guard Siyani Chambers. BU junior guard D.J. Irving, who was playing
as well as he played all season, tried to bring the ball down the court and
score with five seconds left, but he could not sink the attempted buzzer-beater.
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| D.J. Irving goes for a layup. |
“It’s the first time I’ve had a team where we’ve struggled a
bit down the stretch. It’s coming down
to that one play where we have to execute late in the game,” Jones said.
With that, the first America East game will be against the
University of Maine on Jan. 2. Considering
how the Terriers have performed thus far against non–conference opponents, they
should have a pretty good season playing against America East opponents. (Editor's note: Boston U. lost to Maine last night in the conference opener, 63-58.)
The team is still somewhat young and inexperienced, which
means it is gradually improving the more the players are together on the
court. Expect to see a strong showing
from the Boston University men’s basketball team as the season progresses.
“It’s a much more positive 3–6. Our guys feel pretty
confident. We don’t want to be a team that
only looks at our record. We’re about seeing what we’re doing wrong,” Jones
said. “I’m focusing on finishing the non-conference play strong so that we can
go into conference play with positive momentum.
Box Scores, Recaps and Highlights
Men's Basketball
Women's Basketball
Local Media Coverage
Men's Basketball
UMBC at Albany
- Troy Record (with video)
- Albany Times Union
Binghamton at Hartford
Boston U. at Maine
Vermont at New Hampshire
- Burlington Free Press
- WCAX News (with video)
- Seacoast Online
Women's Basketball
Albany at UMBC
New Hampshire at Vermont
Hartford at Binghamton
- Binghamton Press and Sun
- WBNG News (with video)
Linked Up
Stony Brook's Tommy Brenton gets a shout out in Jon Rothstein's latest article.
The Daly Dose of Hoops blogs take a look at how Stony Brook men's basketball is bursting onto the scene.
The Maine women's basketball team is looking to improve in conference play, writes the Bangor Daily News.
America East Commissioner Amy Huchthausen sat down with 101.3 ESPN Radio at halftime of the Vermont/New Hampshire men's basketball game.
In football news, former New Hampshire assistant coach Chip Kelly is being sought after by at least one NFL team for its head coaching position.
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