UConn 92 BU 64: BU gets clobbered.

Recap from the BU website.
Recap from the UConn website.

Boston University will have to wait another year to break their 50 year winless streak when facing ranked opponents.  UConn beatdown BU like a 2 seed playing a 15 seed.

There is not much to write about this game.  You could read the preview that I posted yesterday and think it was was a recap.  Yesterday I guessed the score would be 90 - 64 UConn. The actual score was 92 - 64 UConn. I was off by two points!

The game played out exactly as I expected.  UConn was way too physical for the Terriers, they out rebounded BU 54 - 29 and blocked six Terrier shots..  BU tried a lot of three pointers to try to keep up with UConn, but no amount of threes could've kept the Terriers in this one.  When all was said and done a more athletic UConn team was just better than the Terriers. The Terriers didn't play as awful as they did in the Harvard game, it was just a mismatch.

Random thoughts from this game:

• John Holland and Jake O'Brien are legit and could probably be pretty decent if they played for a school in a major conference. Right now they are the best two players talent wise on the team.  Holland had 23 points and O'Brien added 18 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.  That's pretty impressive especially against a team of UConn's caliber.
• Why did coach Pat Chambers take his players off the floor before the half was over?  Yes, there was only .2 seconds left on the clock, but seriously you can't wait?  The ref should've allowed them to stay in the locker room, it would've been funnier if BU came out of the locker room and UConn was up by three more points than they remembered.
• The Terriers were banged up tonight and didn't have a very deep bench. In addition to Valdas Siruitis and Scott Brittain being out, Corey Lowe sat out his first game because he is suffering from plantar fascitis. As a result, O'Brien led the team with 39 minutes played, Morris played 38 and Holland added another 37.  When your players log that many minutes they are going to be very tired. The Terriers need someone to get healthy soon.

Next Up:
Boston U v. Bucknell
Sunday 12/6 2:00 PM Tip at Agganis Arena
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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