Boston U beats Bucknell 63 - 53.

Read the BU recap.

In what looked like a blow out in the first half turned into a close game later.  However, the crowd still left happy as the Terriers scored over 60 points (Right: Strong hits a foul shot to make it 60), beat Bucknell and got a two for one deal at Raising Cane's after the game.


Boston University played high quality basketball in the first half.  They scored 32 points with 43% shooting and held the Bison to 16 points and 19% shooting.  Everything indicated that this would be a blowout.  Wrong.  Bucknell had a very strong second half  -they pulled to within three at one point-  but were not able to completely erase the Terriers early lead.

During the past few weeks there have been two Terrier teams.  The First Half Terriers and the Second Half Terriers. I refer to this as the "First and Second Enigma." The First half Terriers are aggressive, play hard, don't sit on an early lead or get discouraged when they are behind, they keep battling.  The Second Half Terriers show an early effort, then fade.  They sit on a fat lead and then lose it.  I'm not sure why this happens, it may have to do with injuries and foul trouble.  The Terriers continue to show signs of greatness but cannot play a complete game.  This team is still not living up to preseason expectations.    All Terrier fans hope that the team can find a solution to the enigma by the January 2nd matchup against Stony Brook, their first in-conference game.

Game Notes:

• Player of the game: Jake O'Brien led the Terriers with 17 points.
• Corey Lowe was back and hit a really long three in the first half.
• I attended this game with a few friends, we all got free tickets from a student outside the of the arena.  Apparently there were a few promotions that were designed to lure more people to the game.  This was all a part of a "final project" for a  marketing class, they had to get as many people to attend the game as possible.  I don't think they received an A.  The attendance at Agganis games continues to be disappointing.  Pat Chambers promised better attendance when he interviewed for the job, I am not seeing it so far.
•  I felt bad for the Dance Team, they were having really bad luck with the PA system a couple times.
• One guy mentioned UConn football, I tried to high five him but was denied because I was wearing a Yankees hat.  
• Also, when I got my picture taken next to the BU Hockey National Championship trophy I think the person purposely cut my hat out of the picture because I made a snippy remark about not caring about the Red Sox and Celtics tropy (judge for yourselft, see the picture below).

Yankee hat cut out purposely?

Next Up:

Boston U at Marist

December 12, 2 PM

Listen: 1510 am

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JC's Preview: Connecticut v. Boston U (12/2 XL Center 7 PM)

As I watch a rematch of the 2008-09 national championship game, I'm thinking the same thing everyone else is thinking. When will a team from the America East or a mid-major conference finally win the National Championship?  It has to happen eventually, right?  In College Basketball there is tournament so every team has an equal shot once they get there, right? What if a team like BU made a George Mason like run to the Final Four?  No, wrong, it will never happen, don't get your hopes up.

JC's Preview

Here is the preview from the BU website. Also, see my post about why I am rooting for my alma mater (BU) over the team I gre up rooting for as a kid (UConn)

I don't think there is any question who will win this game.  This is a match up nightmare for the Terriers. The Connecticut Huskies will win and win big.  

What did the Harvard game show?  BU still has a lot of work to do.  Pelage and O'Brien combined for only eight rebounds, that worries me.  Versus UConn's more physical and more athletic forwards (Stanley Robinson, Gavin Edwards, and Alex Oriakhi) that is not going to cut it. The Terriers inability to be consistent in any game they have played all season, that worries me.  They do not have a complete win all season. 

The strength of BU's team is undeniably their guard play.  But BU does not have any advantage in this aspect of this game.  Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker are quick and talented, they will go right by you.  The two players that matchup against Dyson and Walker the best are probably Lowe and and Strong. 

How does BU stay competitive with a more athletic, physical and bigger team? I don't know, it's probably not possible. I really don't see any phase in this game which the Terriers can exploit, especially since they are so poor from the field and from three so far this season.

Terrier Keys to he Game:

• Have an outstanding game shooting the three
• Take advantage of loose-balls and turnovers
• Don't commit a lot of turnovers
• Make all of your free throws
  

If they can do that they might have a chance.  It's basically the four things that any coach at a mid-major school tells their players, "if we make very little mistakes and we can force them to make a few, we can win this game."

So to reiterate, BU has little to no chance.  This game will not even be close.  The question is not if BU will lose, it's by how much.  I predict UConn 90 - BU 64. UConn will clobber BU.

Notes:

• The game will be broadcast on espn360.com.  Anyone with comcast internet can go online and watch for free.
• The last time BU beat a ranked team was in 1959. 
• Calhoun used to coach for the Northeastern Huskies when they were in the same conference as BU. 

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BU loses to Harvard 78- 70: First Loss to the Crimson at Case Gym in 37 years

The last time that Boston Univeristy lost to Harvard at Case Gymnasium was December 13, 1972. Twelve years before I was brought into life on Earth. This was a disspointing loss. The Terriers were as flat as a 2 day old PBR keg. Instead of getting better they got worse.

Let's revisit my preview and the keys to the game I laid out.

• Shoot better from three than Harvard. - Fail. The Crimson and the Terriers had the same exact stat line from three point range: 5-20.   There's no reason with as many great shooters as the Terriers have that they shouldn't be shooting better from three than the Crimson. 
• Play a strong and consistent 40 minutes. - Fail.  They played well for maybe a 10 minute period in this game.  At 5:37 left in the first half they were down by 13 but somehow went into the locker room down only 2 at the half.  Then took the lead early in the 2nd by as much as 9 at the 13:25 mark. They would blow that and lose by 8.  The Terriers only seem to score in spurts, they had one big spurt in this game and that was it.
• Play as aggressive as they have all season.  - Fail.  I think it was obvious to everyone there that the Terriers were getting dominated down low.  The stats from the game are kind of deceiving, the Terriers out rebounded the Crimson by one but couldn't finish any of their second chance opportunities.  BU's two big men Pelage and O'Brien combined for 8 rebounds, Holland had 9.
• Neutralize Lin and McNally. Fail.  This was a big fail.  Lin had 19 points and McNally added 14 of his own.  Lin had 4 assists and 4 steals and went 7-8 from the line.

Other notes:

• Player of the game: Jeremy Lin
• BU Player of the game (if I had to name one): John Holland 18 points and 9 rebounds.
• Carlos Strong looked really good, but only in the ten minute Terrier spurt.
• Corey Lowe was forcing hail mary threes and went 0-7 from the beyond the arc, not his best performance.
• The Terriers scored only 2 bench points.
• The Crimson blocked 8 Terrier shots.

You really have to look at the stats hard to figure out why the Terriers lost this game.  But it's there, compared to the Crimson's 47%, the Terriers shot only 38.5% from the floor .  Even that number is deceiving; during the Terrier spurt they were making everything.

I can't pull any positives from this game other than John Holland.  He was the only consistent person for BU on the floor.  The defense for the Terriers was pretty bad as well.  Usually when you score 70 points and have 5 more offensive rebounds than your opponent you expect to win the game.  That was not the case tonight at Case. Terriers lose and lose bad.  They need to get better in a hurry if they want to at least be competitve with UConn on Wednesday.

One of Lowe's 7 misses from beyond the arc (I will get a digital camera soon I promise).

Next Up:

BU at UConn

Wednesday 12/2 7:00 PM at the XL Center in Hartford, CT

Listen: 1510 am

Watch: SNY, WCTX9, ESPN Full Court

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JC's Preview: Boston U v. Harvard (Case Gym 11/29 5 PM)

Before I begin the preview, is it me or does Coach Pat Chambers sound like a broken record? Look at the last paragraph of Dan Duggan’s recap of the Northeastern game:

“We got better today, we’re going to practice (tomorrow) and we’ll continue to get better,” Chambers said. “As long as we’re getting better and we’re headed in the right direction, we’re going to be OK.”

This is what Chambers has been preaching after every game this season. He just used the form of “to get better” three times. I have no problems with what the coach is saying; I want the Terriers to get better too, so do all Terriers fans. But it’s just stating the obvious. It’s like saying “I get better at my job every day.” I think Coach Chambers needs to say something a little more inspirational. For example what if he said this instead:

“We’ll be on the same level as UConn by the time we play them next week.” Or….
“This is a great team with determination, they won’t quit and neither will I, we could be down 50 to the Celtics and still not quit.”

Maybe, those examples are a little over the top, but I think you get my point. Also, I don’t like the last part of the last sentence: “we’re going to be OK.” As a fan I hope BU is going to be more than “OK,” I hope BU is going to be great. Pat Chambers may be doing well on the court directing his team but he needs to show a little more passion in post game interviews if he wants to attract students and fans to the game and recruit great talent to the program. He’s got my $10, but I don’t think he is convincing many more than that right now. Now, onto JC’s preview.

JC’s Preview

BU v. Harvard, Sunday 11/29 5 PM, Case Gym

Radio: 1510 AM

Harvard:


Harvard comes into this game fresh off of a 78 – 60 schlacking of fellow America East member New Hampshire. In that game and the previous game against Bryant, Harvard played 10 different players for 10 or more minutes and not one player was on the court for over 27 minutes. Look for Harvard coach Tommy Amaker to make frequent subs. Also, considering that stat, senior guard Jeremy Lin’s 18.1 points per game is pretty impressive. Harvard is a team much like the Terriers that likes to shoot the 3 often. Lin and sophomore guard Oliver McNally are 35% and 44% from beyond the arc respectively. They should match-up pretty well in the guard position with the Terriers. Look for Harvard to shoot a lot of shots from beyond the arc.


Boston U:

BU comes in fresh off of their 69 – 64 OT win over Northeastern. So far the Terriers have gotten outstanding play from their forwards sophomore Jake O’Brien and senior and leading scorer for the Terriers John Holland. Of course we could not forget, Corey Lowe’s remarkable performance against Northeastern, which was probably the most inspired of the season. He aggravated a foot injury in the last few minutes of the game and stays in the game. That’s the heart and will of a true leader and captain. The Terriers have an arsenal of shooters from beyond the arc, five players are shooting 30% or better from three (Holland, Lowe, Strong, O’Brien and Morris).

In their last matchup against Northeastern the main concern was their streakiness. BU’s fanbase (including myself), was put on the emotional rollercoaster versus Northeastern. The Terriers were down by 10 early in the first but battled back within 2 at the half. They then went on a 13 – 0 run and took an 11 point lead only to blow that and have to come from behind again to force overtime. Then after that my emotions took over and I blacked out.


BU Keys to the game:

• Shoot better from three than Harvard. 
• Play a strong and consistent 40 minutes.
• Play as aggressive as they have all season.
• Neutralize Lin and McNally

BU should beat Harvard extending their streak to nine consecutive wins against and not allow Harvard a win at BU since the 1975-76 season.

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