BOSTON – It’s been a very, very long four years for the Boston University men’s basketball team. For the BU faithful, and perhaps even head coach Dennis Wolff, it’s seemed like a lifetime. But the Terriers may have finally exorcized some of their demons from the past four years with a huge victory over the Huskies of Northeastern.
Boston University showed grit and toughness that the program has been lacking for the past four years. BU answered every run that Northeastern made, outhustled, out-toughed, and out-coached the Huskies, making a statement about the direction of their program.
During the 2003-04 season, Boston University was the class of the America East conference. The Terriers enjoyed their third straight 20-win season, going 23-6 including a win on the road against Michigan back when such a victory was still impressive, and stormed through the America East, going 17-1 in conference. The Terriers received top 25 votes weekly (something unheard of in the America East conference), and if the Top 25 voting was extrapolated out, would have ranked in the top 30 in the country at one point. ESPN projected BU as a No. 12 seed heading into the NCAA tournament, and other publications started whispering that the Terriers could play the role of Cinderella in March.
Then it all came crashing down.
BU was knocked out on their home floor in the opening round of the America East tournament by 8th-seeded Stony Brook. The following season, after graduating arguably the best senior class in school history, the Terriers again rattled off twenty wins, but once again lost in the first round of their conference tournament. Beyond that, Boston University crumbled down the stretch, as they were embarrassed on their home floor by Northeastern, and simply didn’t show up down the stretch.
Things only got worse the following season, as the Terriers struggled through a season marred by player suspensions and locker room friction, culminated by the departure of four highly-touted players during the offseason. The next year BU once again suffered through a season marred by player defections and another early exit in the conference tournament, and last year after showing signs of life during parts of the conference season, BU ended on another bad note when they were run off the floor by Hartford in the conference semifinals.
The Terriers’ futility has gone far beyond their drop in the conference standings and record. It has been marked by their lack of physical and mental toughness. Whenever the Terriers were hit hard in the opening minutes of a game, they seemed to wilt. Entering this season it could be argued that the Terriers hadn’t won a big game against a quality opponent since beating the University of Vermont in February of 2005.
Nowhere was the futility of BU basketball more evident than in their annual matchups against Northeastern: From the era of Reggie Lewis to Tunji Awojobi, from Billy Collins to Jose Juan Barea, the two schools have waged epic battles, but recently it has become at one sided affair. Since Northeastern’s final season in the America East (they moved to the CAA after the 2004-05 season), Boston University had gone 0-4 against the Huskies.
And the losses have been ugly.
Two years ago Northeastern came out swinging and flat-out embarrassed BU. Last year the Terriers hung around for a half, until a monster slam by Nkem Ojougboh took the wind out of BU’s sails and the Huskies cruised to victory.
This year Northeastern once again came out swinging, punctuated by another Ojougboh jam that brought an eruption from the crowd of roughly 2,000. But this year was different, as the Terriers didn’t flinch. Northeastern punched BU in the mouth several times in the first half, and every time BU stayed on it’s feet and fought back.
Matt Wolff fought with Manny Adako and Eugene Spates under the glass, Cory Lowe and Northeastern stud Matt Janning went toe to toe, and it was BU who emerged victorious.
Where in previous years BU was pushed around by Northeastern, this year it was the Terriers who did the pushing, as they seemed to beat the Huskies to every loose ball and long rebound.
Billy Collins, Jason Grochowalski, and every member of the great Terrier teams from 2002-04, teams renowned for their toughness, would have been proud of BU’s performance. In fact, in the week leading up to the game, Dennis Wolff’s squad spent many hours watching old game film of past BU squads, looking for inspiration.
“(Coach Wolff) showed us some stuff from past teams and how much it means to BU and Northeastern, the rivalry, so we just kind of wanted to put our piece in,” said junior guard Cory Lowe.
Lowe certainly put his piece in, as he was unconscious in the first half, scoring 23 of the Terriers 39 points in the opening frame. Lowe lit it up from everywhere, hitting threes from NBA range, but perhaps even more impressive was his performance in the second half.
Early this season Lowe struggled with his decision making, as he seemed unwilling to defer to teammates, forcing shots often. But against Northeastern, Lowe was the definition of unselfish, scoring only four points in the second half while finding freshman Jake O’Brien early and often.
O’Brien was unreal, scoring 21 points in the second half while shooting 5 of 6 from behind the arc. O’Brien showed just why Wolff has been raving so much about him, as it has been a long time since a Terrier, let alone a BU forward, has had as pretty a release and as true as shot as the 6’8″, 210-pound rookie.
Every one of O’Brien’s threes found nothing but net, and every one of them was a dagger.
More impressive was that the Terriers were able pull out the W despite an off game from star wing John Holland (17 points, but on 5 of 13 shooting) and with center Scott Brittain still suffering from the affects of post concussion syndrome (no points in 10 limited minutes).
But most impressive was the Terriers’ mental toughness, as they withstood every run that Northeastern made all the way until the final buzzer, something that would have seemed impossible in previous seasons.
It’s still too early to label the Terriers as true America East contenders. They are still prone to bouts of sloppy play, and lost a very winnable game on Saturday to Mount Saint Mary’s. But the program has taken a huge step in the right direction this season: they are showing up for their games, they aren’t backing down and their mental and physical toughness is already several steps up from where it has been during the past few years. And a Terriers team with Lowe, Holland, and O’Brien scoring from outside, and the return of Brittain in the low post is going to be tough to beat when they are playing up to their talent.
