Terriers Open New Arena in Style
BOSTON – For a moment early on, one might have wondered if they were in the right place. During the pre-game introductions of Vermont’s starting lineup, there were enough cheers from the Catamount faithful who traveled to make one do a brief double take. Terrier head coach Dennis Wolff didn’t notice.
“I thought the crowd was pro-BU, from where I was sitting,” Wolff said after a reporter mentioned that it seemed to be pro-Vermont.
Boston University won the first men’s basketball game at the new Harry Agganis Arena on Saturday, a 61-55 win over Vermont in what Wolff described as “a typical BU-Vermont game”. The new arena is a beautiful facility that will be the home for all of the university’s hockey games and selected basketball games, and drew nothing but rave reviews from those who were there for the first time. It has the feel of a larger arena even with just one level of seating. One Vermont assistant remarked that “it even smells new”.
The game was said to be a sellout in the days leading up to it, though a decent number of empty seats could be seen and the final reported attendance was 5,736, a little below the listed capacity of 7,200 (6,300 for ice hockey). Sellout or not, it was a record for an America East regular season game, and Vermont head coach Tom Brennan put it in perspective.
“Who could have ever thought, in our lifetime, five thousand would ever come to see BU play Vermont,” Brennan said in his typically candid manner. “I mean, really. I’ve been here 20 years, we used to play in that old frozen rink in there, whatever it’s called, there was a hundred people, five hundred people, it was a joke. But now it’s a big deal, and I love that, it’s really neat.”
The game was not without its added touches. The World Series trophy from the Boston Red Sox was on display for fans to see. Before the game, Terrier head coach Dennis Wolff presented senior forward Rashad Bell with a basketball commemorating his 1,000th career point scored earlier this year. Immediately following that, he made a special presentation to Brennan, the retiring Vermont head coach and a friend of his. At halftime, a number of former Terriers who attended the game came out to halfcourt.
The game almost seemed like a minor matter, but it didn’t disappoint as the burgeoning rivalry had another classic and with the atmosphere of a big-time game. The Terriers never trailed in the game, answering every Catamount charge. They consistently found the gaps in the Vermont defense and hit mid-range jumpers en route to a 34-31 halftime lead. All but 11 points in the half were scored by Bell (18 points), Chaz Carr (11) and Vermont’s Taylor Coppenrath (25). At times, Boston basketball fans could see shades of the classic Celtics-Atlanta Hawks playoff game in 1988 when Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins had their legendary final quarter in trying to lead their teams to victory.
The Terriers would open up a 47-39 lead on back-to-back three-pointers by Carr, who finished with 24 points, but the Catamounts responded with two T.J. Sorrentine three-pointers sandwiching a Coppenrath layup to tie it at 47. Then freshman guard Bryan Geffen made the plays of the game, stealing the ball and getting a layup to break the tie and helping set up another three-pointer by Carr right after it.
“I thought Geffen made back-to-back plays that changed the tone of the game,” Wolff said. “To me, that kind of gave us life, at a point in the game when we needed life and kind of sapped a little life out of them.”
The Terriers missed five free throws in the final minute to give the Catamounts a little more life, but were able to hold on for the victory. The win puts the Terriers one game behind the Catamounts in the America East standings, but the Catamounts control their destiny since both teams have already played each other twice.
Significant Day
The arena’s opening is an important event for the school. The Terriers reportedly would like to get into the Atlantic 10 Conference, which adds Charlotte and St. Louis next year and will have 14 teams. The new arena certainly gives them an added bargaining chip, as it would instantly be one of the best in the conference, and coaches and officials all know how significant the arena will be for them going forward.
“I think we’re all sitting in this place, this is some building,” Wolff reflected. “I was concerned all week that the fact that we were in here for the first time would be a distraction. It’s significant for us, a lot of people put a lot of effort into this.”
While the hockey team now practices and plays all of its home games there, the basketball team is currently slated to play four basketball games there next season and possibly a fifth. Next Sunday is the only other one this season, when they take on cross-town rival Northeastern in a game that is likely to have second place in America East on the line.
The arena also gives the Terriers the ability to bring in more good teams in non-conference play, which is always a struggle for mid-majors. What helps the Terriers is that they have already had teams from major conferences play at their home over the years, including St. Joseph’s last season and Fordham this season. One of next season’s home games will be against Michigan, whom the Terriers have defeated each of the past two seasons.
