Men's Basketball Game Notes
December 7, 1999 | Men's Basketball
After opening the season with five straight road games the Boston University (0-5)men's basketball team hosts Harvard (3-2) in the Terriers' 1999-00 home opener on Thursday, December 7 at 7 p.m.
The 91st Season The Boston University men's basketball is in its 91st season of varsity competition- Since 1901-02, the Terriers have totaled an 842-855 record (.496)- In the last 20-plus years, B.U. has registered a 330-259 mark (.560)... In that span, there have been 14 winning campaigns, six 20-win seasons, and four NCAA Tournament appearances (1983, 1988, 1990, and 1997).
Boston University/Harvard Series Notes Harvard leads the all-time series, 31-18... However, B.U. has won the last six meetings, including a 68-64 win on December 8, 1998 at Lavietes Pavilion... The Terriers are 7-1 against the Crimson in the 90s... The last win for the Crimson occurred on January 2, 1993, a 79-59 decision in Cambridge... The last time the Crimson defeated the Terriers in Boston was on January 14, 1976 in the championship game of the Beanpot Tournament... The series dates back to 1904.
Terriers Against Non-Conference Foes In head coach Dennis Wolff's five-plus seasons, the Terriers are 24-27 against non-conference opponents...This season, B.U. is 0-5 against non-conference opponents... Last season, B.U. was 4-4 in non-conference games... The Terriers' last win against a non-conference opponent came on December 29, 1998, an 80-58 decision over Canisius in the consolation game of the Bobcat Classic at Montana State.
Wolff Against the Ivy League Head coach Dennis Wolff is 5-0 against teams from the Ivy League...All five of his wins coming against the Crimson.
Recapping Massachusetts - Thursday, December 2, 1999 AMHERST, MA- (Dec. 2) - Massachusetts took control early and turned back Boston University ,70-51... Chris Kirkland had 23 points and Monty Mack had 12 to lead UMass (2-2), which was playing without head coach Bruiser Flint.... Flint gave himself a one-game suspension after he used profanity in a post-game radio interview following his team's loss to Marshall on Monday. Assistant coach Geoff Arnold took over the coaching duties... BU fell to 0-5, with all its games on the road. Freshman Paul Seymour, with 13 points, was the only double-figure scorer for BU.... UMass led 36-22 at halftime and held at least a 14-point advantage in the second half. The Minutemen were on top by as many as 21 (60-39) with 6:30 to play... Kirkland, working the inside with ease, was 10-for-15 from the field... BU scored the first five points, but UMass got the next nine and the Minutemen stayed on top for the rest of the game. Kirkland and Mack had 10 points apiece for UMass before intermission... The Terriers were 9-for-24 from the field and 1-for-7 from the 3-point line in the first 20 minutes... Sophomore Dereck Franklin played just six minutes due to a groin injury prior to tip-off.
Joe Tompkins Tribute Tonight, the Boston University Athletic Department will honor Joe Tompkins with a basketball game jersey with Joe's name on it... A long-time Boston University employee, he was a great friend of all Boston University athletes, and a special friend the Boston University basketball team... This season, the Boston University men's basketball team will be wearing black bands in tribute... Joe died suddenly at work on Tuesday, July 13, 1999.
Home Openers B.U. is 39-8 in home openers since 1950... However, the Terriers have dropped their last two home openers, 65-50 to UNC Charlotte last season and 86-63 to Rhode Island in 1997.
Terriers at Home Under Wolff Under head coach Dennis Wolff, B.U. has totaled an impressive 43-15 home record... Last season, the Terriers slumped to a 4-8 record on The Roof in Case Gymnasium... It was B.U.'s first non-winning home record since 1992-93.
Slow Start for Terriers Boston University is 0-5 to open the start of the season for the first time since the 1975-76 season... That year, Roy Sigler's squad opened the season 0-8 and finished with a 7-19 mark... B.U.'s last win came on February 19, 1999, a 68-54 decision at Vermont.
Youngest Terrier Squad in School History With only two upperclassmen on its 12-man roster, this year's Boston University team is the youngest in school history. The Terriers graduated five seniors from last year's club, leaving them with two seniors and 10 underclassmen for the 1999-2000 season. Every previous Boston University team has fielded at least four upperclassmen, while no Terrier club has featured more than nine underclassmen. Below is a look at some of the youngest squads to wear the Scarlet and White:
Year Fr So Jr Sr
1999-00 5 5 0 2
1995-96 4 3 3 1
1987-88 3 6 2 3
1983-84 4 5 3 1
1982-83 4 4 2 2
1977-78 4 4 1 3
Freshmen Providing Scoring Punch Freshman guard Matt Turner (West Haven, CT) leads the Terriers in scoring this season, averaging 11.4 ppg while, Paul Seymour and Jacob Kudlacz average 10.4 ppg and 8.0 ppg, respectively... In all, the Class of 2003 accounts for 33.2% of B.U.'s scoring offense this season.
Strong Start for Turner Matt Turner had a fine collegiate debut on Friday, November 19 vs. Northern Illinois University... Turner led the Terriers in scoring with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting and dished out six assists in 38 minutes of work.... Through five games, Turner leads the Terriers in scoring, 11.4 ppg, and assists, 2.8 apg... The 5-7 guard also leads the team in minutes played, averaging 32.2 minutes per game.
Seymour Connects From Three-Point Land Through five games, freshman Paul Seymour (Liverpool, NY) leads the Terriers in three-pointers made (10) and attempted (27)... Seymour scored all of his team-high 18 points from three-point land in the, 91-79 overtime, loss at James Madison on November 22nd... Seymour connected on 6-of-9 from beyond the arc... His six three-point field goals were the most by a Terrier since Billy Beal made 7 on January 12, 1999 vs. New Hampshire... Seymour is 8th in the America East conference in three-point field goal percentage (37 % - 10-of-27).
Avebe on the Mark Senior forward Jean Avebe (Yaounde,Cameroon) leads the Terriers in field goal percentage ... The 6-7 forward is shooting 56 % from the floor this season (20-of-36)... Avebe scored a season-high 14 points in the season-opener vs. Northern Illinois on November 19 .
Franklin Getting Focused Prior to the UMass game, where he suffered a pulled groin in pre-game warmups, sophomore guard Dereck Franklin (Chantilly, VA) was averaging, 15.5 ppg,3.5 apg, and 39 minutes per game in his last two games... Franklin leads the Terriers in free-throw percentage at 84.2 % (16-of-19), good for 4th in the America East conference.
Graham is Golden Sophomore forward Jerome Graham (N. Minneapolis, MN) was named to the Doral/Florida International Tip-Off Classic All-Tournament Team on November 20... Graham averaged 8.0 ppg and 3.5 rpg in the two games... The 6-8 forward also shot 53 % from the field (7-of-13)... So far this season, Graham is averaging 5.2 ppg and 3.4 rpg in 15 minutes of action... He is also shooting 50 % from the field (11-of-22).
Kudos to Kudlacz Freshman forward Jacob Kudlacz (Glen Cove, NY) made his collegiate debut at Providence on November 30... In 23 minutes of action, the 6-8 forward scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting and collected two rebounds... At UMass, Kudlacz added eight points and a team-high nine rebounds... Kudlacz sat out the Terriers' first three games of the season with an ankle injury.
Head Coach Dennis Wolff Head coach Dennis Wolff is in his sixth season at Boston University and sports an 86-66 record (.565 pct.)... During his tenure at B.U., Wolff's teams have captured two America East regular-season championships, and earned one NCAA Tournament berth (1997)... Wolff was hired on April 5, 1994 after serving 12 years as a Division I assistant at Virginia (1990-94), Southern Methodist (1989-90), Wake Forest (1985-1989), and St. Bonaventure (1982-84)... Wolff also served as the head coach of Division III Connecticut College (1980-82), recording a 30-18 record in two seasons.
Wolff Coaching 153rd Game at B.U. Dennis Wolff will be coaching his 153rd career game as head coach of the Boston University men's basketball program tonight against Harvard.. Wolff's 153 games places him in sole possession of second place on the Terriers' games coached list...Last Thursday at Massachusetts, Wolff tied Mike Jarvis and John Burke for the second most games coached as men's basketball coach at B.U....Only three other coaches in the history of the Terrier basketball program have coached 150 or more games:
- Matt Zunic, who coached seven seasons from 1952-59, is the all-time coaching leader in games with 154.
- Mike Jarvis, currently coaching at St. John's University, and John Burke, who succeeded Zunic from 1959-66 each led the Terriers in 152 games... Jarvis is the program's all-time winningest coach with 101 victories from 1985-90.
Defensive Minded Defense has been a cornerstone in the Dennis Wolff era- In Wolff's five seasons, B.U. has a 74-22 mark when holding opponents under 70 points... In 1998-99, B.U. was 9-5 when holding opponents under 70 points, and was 8-1 when allowing under 60- The Terriers also held opponents under .400 shooting from the field 10 times in 1998-99... B.U. was 8-2 in those games.
Costello is Fourth on B.U. Career Three-Point List With 145 three-pointers, senior Mike Costello ranks fourth on the B.U. career three-point list.-Costello has made eight threes this season... In 1998-99, Costello connected on a team-high 48 three-pointers, including eight games with three or more.
Three-Point Field Goal Streak at 98 B.U. currently has a 98-game three-point field goal streak... The last time the Terriers were held scoreless from beyond the three-point arc was Feb. 10, 1996, when they were 0-for-10 in a loss at Vermont... B.U. has hit three-pointers in 150-of-152 games in the Dennis Wolff era.
America East Success Boston University is one of the charter members of the America East Conference, which was founded in 1979- In those 20 seasons, the Terriers have won a league-record 165 conference and 30 tournament contests, including championships in 1983, 1988, 1990, and 1997.
Terriers Among America East Statistical Leaders Sophomore guard Dereck Franklin is 4th in free-throw percentage, 84 % (16-of-19)... Mike Costello is 5th in steals at 2.0 spg... Jean Avebe is 8th in rebounds per game at 6.6 rpg... Matt Turner is 9th in assists per game (2.8)... Paul Seymour is 8th in three-point field-goal percentage (37 %)... As a team, B.U. is 4th in free-throw percentage, (66.7 %), 7th in scoring offense, (64.7 ppg), 8th in scoring defense, (79.7 ppg).
Butt Signs National Letter of Intent Ryan Butt, a 6-7, 235-pound power forward from Hempfield H.S. in Landisville, PA, signed a national letter of intent to play for the Terriers.
Grochowalski to be Red-Shirted Boston University freshman forward Jason Grochowalski (Shrewsbury, PA/Worcester Academy) will miss the remainder of the 1999-2000 season due to a season-ending shoulder injury that will require surgery...The date of the operation has not been set yet...The 6-6,190-pound forward initially dislocated his left shoulder in practice on October 30 and reaggravated the injury during the Providence game last Tuesday night (November 30th)..."It is unfortunate that Jason has had an injury-plagued first semester," said head coach Dennis Wolff... "Actually, we have had him for only about a week. He had to rehab the shoulder for most of the pre-season. Then, we had him for three practices before our road trip to Florida and James Madison. He played in the three games, practiced for the Providence game, and then got hurt against Providence..."We plan to redshirt him this year," continued Wolff. "He will have his shoulder operated on then go through rehab so he will be completely healthy for next season." ... Grochowalski appeared in the Terriers' first four games, averaging 2.0 ppg and 2.3 rpg. Grochowalski was also averaging 11.3 minutes per game.
B.U. On the Radio Twenty-one of Boston University's 26 basketball games this season will be broadcast live on WROL-AM 950 (Boston), WCRN-AM 830 (Worcester), and WPLM-AM 1390 (Plymouth). Rich Levine returns for his fifth season to call the action, while Doug Guy will provide analysis for the sixth year.
www.gobu.com Media members and fans of Boston University men's basketball and all Terrier athletic teams may now access information on the Internet by typing the URL: www.gobu.com... Rosters, game notes, news, schedules and results, statistics and other information regarding Boston University athletics will be updated on a regular basis on the department's homepage.
Playing the Best Boston University annually plays a challenging non-conference schedule- Last season, the Terriers played three teams that reached the 1999 NCAA Tournament (UNC Charlotte, Miami of Ohio, and Delaware) as well as two that played in the postseason N.I.T. (Alabama and Colorado)- In 1999-2000, B.U. will compete in two in-season tournaments -Last month at Florida International and later this month at 1999 N.I.T. Champion California's holiday tournament- In addition, the Terriers will renewed their long-time rivalries against New England neighbors Massachusetts and Providence.
