Men's Basketball Drops Season Opener
November 19, 1999 | Men's Basketball
MIAMI, FL (Nov. 19) - Boston University freshman guard Matt Turner (West Haven, CT) scored a team-high 20 points in this collegiate debut, but Northern Illinois' T.J. Lux scored a game-high 28 points as Huskies got past Boston University, 78-65, in first-round play of the Doral/Florida International Tip-Off Classic in Miami.
The Terriers (0-1) shot 50 % (14-of-28) in the first half and led by as many as 13, 22-9 with 8:34 left in the half. Behind Turner's 11 points, B.U. held a 34-30 halftime advantage.
In the second half, NIU used its inside presence behind Lux (14-of-15 from the free-throw line) and forced the Terriers into foul trouble. "We were in foul trouble the whole game," Sixth year Boston University head coach Dennis Wolff said.
"They had a couple of seniors that made key plays and that hurt us down the stretch," Wolff added. The Huskies outshot the Terriers from the free-throw line 38 to 21. NIU converted 29 of those opportunities (83 %), while B.U. made 13 (60 %). Northern Illinois made 20-of-24 free throws in the second half.
Despite the loss, Wolff had some positives to note on the game. "I'm happy with our effort tonight. We're a young team and I thought we played extremely hard," Wolff said. "Nacho (Ignacio Rodriguez) saw his first action of the season tonight and played well." Rodriquez scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in 21 minutes.
The Terriers, who have not won a season opener in three years, shot an uncharacteristic 20 % (4-of-20) from three-point range. Turner led B.U. with 20 points and six assists in 38 minutes. "Turner had a good first game," Wolff said.
Also scoring in double figures for the Terriers was senior center Jean Avebe (Yaounde, Cameroon) with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. The Terriers will be play loser of the Radford/Florida International game on Saturday, November 20 at 5 p.m.
