Men's Basketball Opens Up America East Slate Against Maine
December 9, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Boston University Probable Starters (1-5)
No. Name Year Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown
3 Dereck Franklin So. G 6-0 180 Chantilly, VA
7.0 ppg and 2.8 rpg/ 76.2 % FT shooter
34 Matt Turner Fr. G 5-9 160 West Haven, CT
11.2 ppg and 3.5 apg
21 Jerome Graham So. F 6-8 230 N. Minneapolis, MN
5.0 ppg and 3.0 rpg
23 Mike Costello Sr. F 6-4 210 Belmont, MA
7.5 ppg and 4.2 rpg/147 career 3pt'ers
55 Jean Avebe Sr. C 6-7 210 Yaounde, Cameroon
10.7 ppg and 6.5 rpg/ 56.5 % from the floor Boston University/Maine Series Notes Tonight is the 70th meeting between the two schools... B.U. leads the all-time series, 36-33... Maine won both matchups last season, 80-66 on January 10 on "The Roof" and 85-73 on February 6 in Orono... However, the Terriers have wonseven of the last nine meetings.... B.U. is 10-6 vs. Maine on "The Roof", winning three of the last four contests... Since 1979, the Terriers are 19-18 against the Black Bears in regular-season play. Revenge in Place Maine snapped the Terriers' 23-game America East home winning streak last season... On January 10, 1999, the Black Bears defeated the Terriers, 80-66... Fred Meeks led five Black Bears in double figures with 17 points.
Recapping Harvard - Tuesday, December 7, 1999 BOSTON, MA- Senior forward Jean Avebe (Yaounde, Cameroon) equaled a season-high with 14 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Terriers' to their first win of the season, 58-57, over Harvard before 1,108 on "The Roof" at Case Gymnasium... BU lead 31-26 at halftime, shooting 48 % from the floor (13-of-27). The Crimson shot 32 % in the first half (9-of-28)... In the second half, BU extended its lead to 35-26 with 18:40 to play, but the Crimson went on a 9-4 run to close the gap to 38-35 at 15:23... Freshman guard Paul Seymour (Liverpool, NY) sank a three-pointer at 15:01 to move the Terriers ahead by six, 41-35... Harvard then went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 43-43 with 10:29 to play... With the game tied at 43-43, Harvard freshman guard Elliot Prasse-Freeman (Mercer Island, WA) hit two free-throws and junior forward Tim Coleman (Bellevue, WA) hit a jumper to give the Crimson a 47-43 lead with 9:19 to play... The Terriers outscored Harvard, 10-6, in the next 5:52 and tied the game for the second time in the half at 53-53 with 3:27 to go in the game... Sophomore forward Ignacio Rodriguez (Canary Islands, Spain) made one of two free throws and Avebe made a layup at 2:13 to give the Terriers a 56-53 advantage.... Harvard's Tim Coleman, who scored a game-high 19 points, hit a three-pointer at 1:48 to tie the game at 56-56... Seconds later, B.U. freshman guard Matt Turner (West Haven, CT) - 10 points, seven assists, two turnovers - hit a layup after slashing through the lane to give the Terriers a 58-56 lead with 1:35 to play... Harvard had a chance to tie the game with 14 seconds left, but Prasse-Freeman only made of two free-throws... Three seconds later, the Crimson's Damian Long fouled Dereck Franklin... Franklin, an 84 % free-throw shooter entering the game, missed the front end of a one- and-one to give Frank Sullivan's squad a chance to win in the waning seconds...Damian Long's shot at the buzzer fell short...The game was Dennis Wolff's 153rd on the bench for the Terriers...He has now coached the second most games in Boston University men's basketball history.
America East Opener Coming off their first win of the 99-00 season, on Tuesday night, Boston University (1-5) hosts Maine (4-1) in the America East opener for both teams... B.U. is 17-3 in conference openers at home, winning four of their last five... It is the fourth straight season that the Terriers have played Maine in their conference home opener... The Terriers are 33-11 in America East games on "The Roof".
Scouting the Black Bears After tipping off the 1999-00 season with a 79-69 loss to Bucknell University, the Black Bears have won four straight games versus Delaware St. (69-61), Brown (92-82), Sacred Heart (76-70, 2 OT), and Troy St. (81-80)... In the Black Bears' one-point victory over Troy St., Huggy Dye scored 23 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Andy Bedard registered 14 points and 10 assists... Maine is led by 1998-99 America East All-Conference performers, senior point guard Andy Bedard (First Team) and senior power forward Nate Fox (Second Team)- Bedard averages 16.6 points and 7.2 assists per game, while Fox contributes 16.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game- Leading the Black Bears in scoring with an average of 17.6 per game is 1998-99 America East All-Rookie Team honoree, Huggy Dye- Junior forward Julian Dunkley averages 11.4 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per contest.
Wolff To Tie Zunic For Most Games Coached At B.U. Dennis Wolff will be coaching his 154th career game as head coach of the Boston University men's basketball program in tonight's America East opener against Maine.. Wolff's 154 games ties him with Matt Zunic, who coached seven seasons from 1952-59, as the program's all-time leader in games coached...Only two other coaches in the history of the Terrier basketball program have coached 150 or more games: - 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.
Terriers at Home Under Wolff Under head coach Dennis Wolff, B.U. has totaled an impressive 44-15 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 1-5 to open the start of the season for the first time since the 1992-93 season... That year, Bob Brown's squad opened the season 1-8 and finished with a 6-21 mark.
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 11.2 ppg, while Paul Seymour and Jacob Kudlacz average 9.8 ppg and 8.0 ppg, respectively... In all, the Class of 2003 accounts for 62.7% of B.U.'s scoring offense this season... This percentage is derived from field goal and assist totals from Turner, Seymour, Kudlacz, Grochowalski and Sadusky divided by the team's total number of made field goals.
Head Coach Dennis Wolff Head coach Dennis Wolff is in his sixth season at Boston University and sports an 87-66 record (.568 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 Among America Coaching Career Wins Leaders In his tenure at Boston University, Dennis Wolff has a 62-38 overall record against America East teams... This includes a 54-34 record in regular-season games and 8-4 in the playoffs... Entering the 1999-00 season, Wolff is 10th on the all-time list and fourth among active coaches. America East Coaching Career Win List:
Coach, School Yrs Record Pct. 1. Bill Herrion, Drexel 8 103-27 .792 2. Rudy Keeling,Maine/ N.U. 11 82-89 .479 3. Karl Fogel, N.U. 8 76-42 .644 4. Tom Brennan, UVM 12 74-132 .359 5. Mike Jarvis, B.U. 5 62-22 .738 6. Paul Brazeau, Hartford 7 59-57 .509 7. Nick Macarchuk, Canisius 6 58-26 .690 8. Jack Phelan, Hartford 8 56-51 .523 9. Jim Calhoun, N.U. 5 55-12 .821 10. Dennis Wolff, B.U. 5 54-34 .614Strong Start for Turner Matt Turner scored what proved to be the winning basket in Tuesday night's 58-57 win... He finished the game with 10 points and seven assists...The 5-7 guard 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.... Turner leads the Terriers in scoring with 11.2 ppg, and assists with 3.5 apg... He 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 (11) and is tied with Mike Costello in three-pointers attempted (32)... The 6-5 guard has led the Terriers in scoring twice this season... On November 22nd, Seymour scored all of his team-high 18 points from three-point land in the 91-79 overtime loss at James Madison ... 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 (34 % - 11-of-32).
Costello is Fourth on B.U. Career Three-Point List With 147 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.
Senior Leadership From Avebe Senior forward Jean Avebe (Yaounde,Cameroon) did an outstanding defensive job on Harvard's Dan Clemente on Tuesday night... Clemente came into the game averaging 24.2 ppg a game, but Avebe held him to just six points on 3-of-16 shooting, while equaling a season-high with 14 points and grabbing six rebounds...He leads the Terriers in field goal percentage at 56.5 % (26-of-46).. Avebe also scored a season-high 14 points in the season-opener vs. Northern Illinois on November 19.
Graham is Golden Sophomore forward Jerome Graham (N. Minneapolis, MN) made his first career start on Tuesday night vs. Harvard... Plagued by foul trouble, Graham played only 11 minutes, scoring four points and grabbing one rebound... So far this season, Graham is averaging 5.0 ppg and 3.0 rpg in 15 minutes of action... He is also shooting 52 % from the field (13-of-25)... He 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).
Kudos to Kudlacz Freshman forward Jacob Kudlacz (Glen Cove, NY) continues to impress in the early stages of the 99-00 season.... On Tuesday night, Kudlacz was 4-of-4 from the floor en route to his third straight eight-point outing... The 6-8 forward 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.
Defensive Minded Defense has been a cornerstone in the Dennis Wolff era- In Wolff's five seasons, B.U. has a 75-22 mark when holding opponents under 70 points... In Tuesday night's win, B.U. held Harvard to 57 points and 32.3 % shooting, marking this first time this season that an opponent was held under 70 points... Last season, 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.
Three-Point Field Goal Streak at 99 B.U. currently has a 99-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.
TotalCast Live A TotalCast is a unique way of experiencing a sporting event live over the Internet, providing real-time information such as reporting, game photographs, advertising, statistics, animation, trend analysis and forecasting, thus giving fans an opportunity to access information that was not available on television or radio... Ten of B.U.'s 26 games this season can be viewed throught TotalCast... Just point your web browser to www.gobu.com and click on TotalCast to get a complete schedule.
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 renewed their long-time rivalries against New England neighbors Massachusetts and Providence.
Joe Tompkins Tribute 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.
