Men's Hoops Ready for James Madison
December 21, 2000 | Men's Basketball
The Boston University men's basketball team returns to the floor tonight to take on James Madison, a 7 p.m. start on "The Roof."
Boston University/JMU Matchup The Terriers and Dukes meet for the second time tonight... James Madison holds a 1-0 series edge with a 91-79 overtime win on November 22, 1999... Sophomore Paul Seymour had a team-high 18 points in the game for B.U.... The schools have one common opponent thus far this season, Liberty University... B.U. defeated Liberty, 55-54, on November 21, while JMU defeated the Flames, 71-69 on November 25... Dennis Wolff is 3-1 against the Colonial Athletic Association... Overall, B.U. is 12-10 against the CAA.
Scouting James Madison The Dukes are coming off an 84-70 home loss to Cal-State Northridge on Monday night and are now 5-4 on the season... James Madison has four players averaging double figures in scoring, led by sophomore forward Pat Mitchell, averaging 16.4 ppg... Mitchell also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.8 rpg... Sophomore guard David Fanning, who is averaging 10.8 ppg, is leading the team in assists, averaging 4.7 per game... JMU is currently 1-1 in the CAA... The team is 1-2 on the road... Head coach Sherman Dillard, in his fourth year at JMU, sports a 52-40 mark at the school, a .565 winning percentage.
Collins In the Lineup Sophomore co-captain Billy Collins, who sat out last season as a transfer from Rutgers and was sidelined early this season with a stress fracture in his left foot, saw his first time as a Terrier against Harvard on December 5... Collins has improved in each of the three games he has played since then, posting a season-high 11 points in the Terriers' loss to UMass on December 14.
Icing Waved Off The Terriers played their 2000-01 home opener in Walter Brown Arena against UMass on December 14, a 68-52 loss... The last time a B.U. men's basketball contest had been held at Walter Brown Arena was December 6, 1997, a 61-53 loss to Alabama... Overall, the Terriers hold an 83-38 all-time record at Brown Arena, for a .686 winning percentage... The team played their home games during the 1982-83 season, as well as from 1985-861992-93 in Walter Brown... Since 1993-94, the Terriers are 7-6 in the Arena.
Best Start Ever Under Wolff The Terriers began the season 3-0 for the first time in head coach Dennis Wolff's career at B.U... Wolff is in his seventh season... It was the first time the Terriers had started the season 3-0 since the 1985-86 squad, which qualified for the NIT... The school record for wins to start the season is eight, set by the 1957-58 team... The team was also 5-2 to start the season, matching the 1996-97 club for the best start under Wolff after seven games... That team won the America East regular-season and tournament titles, and was an NCAA participant that year.
The Butt of Nobody's Joke Freshman center Ryan Butt has been a nice surprise for the Terriers with his consistent play early this season... Butt has started seven of B.U.'s eight games, leading the team in rebounding with 6.5 per game... He is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 9.6 ppg... Butt scored a career-high 19 points in the 92-76 loss to George Washington on November 25... Butt was named the America East Rookie of the Week on December 18, after scoring 18 points with eight rebounds in helping the Terriers to a 79-67 win at Maine.
Steal City Another freshman who has seen time in the starting lineup is guard Kevin Fitzgerald... Fitzgerald is currently fourth in the America East, averaging 1.8 steals per game, including a season-high six at Liberty on Nov. 21.
The Latest: UMass 68, Boston University 52 BOSTON Sophomore guard Matt Turner (West Haven, CT) scored a game-high 12 points, and got the B.U. faithful on their feet with a thunderous second-half dunk, but it wasn't enough to carry the Terriers, who lost their home opener to UMass, 68-52 at Walter Brown Arena on Thursday. The Terriers are now 3-4 in home openers under Dennis Wolff... It was the first men's basketball game played at Walter Brown Arena since December 6, 1997, a 61-53 loss to Alabama... B.U., which falls to 5-3, did a nice job staying with the Minutemen for the first 10 minutes of the contest. Points were hard to come by in the opening minutes, but freshman Ryan Butt's (Lancaster, PA) layup gave B.U. an 8-6 lead with 12:13 left in the half. UMass went on a 12-3 run from that point, getting four points apiece from Ronell Blizzard, Kitwana Rhymer and Shannon Crooks to take an 18-11 lead with 5:58 left. The Terriers struggled to find open looks, hitting just 30 percent of their shots on 8-for-27 from the field in the first half. UMass led 30-19 at the break... B.U. played some stingy defense of its own, as UMass shot only 38 percent in the first half... Turner came to life in the second half, hitting a pair of threes to get the Terriers to within 10, 38-28, 3:30 into the half... UMass was able to answer, never letting the lead get smaller than eight points after that. This, despite Turner's dunk which gave the crowd and team a brief momentum boost with 14:57 left in the game, cutting the lead to nine, 41-32... The Minutemen spread their scoring out and were led by Rhymer's 10 points. Blizzard added nine points and 14 rebounds. UMass' leading scorer, Monty Mack, had a quiet seven points... For B.U., Billy Collins continued to garner more minutes coming off a stress fracture in his foot and his play has warranted it. He added 11 points.
Terriers Among America East Leaders Several Terriers are among the leaders in America East statistical categories... Sophomore forward Paul Seymour is seventh in the conference in scoring, averaging 15.6 ppg... He is the only underclassman in the top 10 in scoring in the America East... Freshman forward Jason Grochowalski is tops in the conference in free throw percentage at 90 percent on 27-of-30 shooting... Sophomore Matt Turner is third in three-point field goal percentage with 48.4 percent on 15-for-31 shooting... As a team, the Terriers are third in scoring defense, allowing 69.1 points per game... The team is tops in free throw percentage, hitting at a 74.7 percent clip on 115-for-154 shooting.
Off the Bench Junior forward Jerome Graham came off the bench and tied a career-high with 11 points in the Terriers' 79-72 win over Northeastern on December 9... Graham was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and 5-for-5 from the line in the game... Graham also had 11 points in a game versus Hartford on Feb. 19, 2000 of last season.
The 92nd Season The Boston University men's basketball team is in its 92nd season of varsity competition Since 1901-02, the Terriers have totaled an 852-874 record (.494) In the last 20 years, B.U. has registered a 340-278 mark (.551)... In that span, there have been 14 winning campaigns, six 20-win seasons, and four NCAA Tournament appearances (1983, 1988, 1990, and 1997).
Reversing Trends The 2000-01 season has barely begun, but already the Terriers are reversing some trends from last season... B.U. was 0-18 in games in which it was outrebounded by an opponent in 1999-00. The Terriers are already 2-1 in that category this season after defeating Liberty and Quinnipiac... In night games last season, the Terriers were 2-17... B.U. is already 5-3 this season in games started after the sun goes down.
Defense Always A Key Defense has been a cornerstone in the Dennis Wolff era The Terriers are currently allowing an average of 69.1 points per game... In Wolff's six-plus seasons, B.U. has a 78-32 mark when holding opponents under 70 points, including the December 12 win over Maine.
Wolff Closing In With the team's win over Northeastern on December 9, head coach Dennis Wolff moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time Terrier coaches' wins list... Wolff, who now has 98 career wins, is just three victories away from the school mark of 101 held by Mike Jarvis... Wolff is 98-86 in his career at B.U., a .533 winning percentage.
Three-Point Field Goal Streak at 132 Boston University currently has a 132-game three-point field goal streak... The last time the Terriers were held scoreless from beyond the three-point arc was February 10, 1996, when they were 0-for-10 in a loss at Vermont... B.U. has hit three-pointers in 184-of-186 games in the Dennis Wolff era.
Head Coach Dennis Wolff 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, recording a 30-18 record from 1980-82.
Wearing the C' The 2000-2001 B.U. Terriers are captained by sophomore Billy Collins and junior Stijn Dhondt, both of whom red-shirted as transfers last season. Said head coach Dennis Wolff, "Billy and Stijn bring an older perspective and talent to this team. Both players showed extraordinary leadership and worked extremely hard through their redshirt year." Collins is a 6-7, 200-lb. guard who last played a season for Rutgers University. At Rutgers, he appeared in 24 games, averaging 1.4 ppg, 1.5 rpg, and 6.2 minutes per game. He averaged 30 ppg and 9.0 rpg as a senior, leading Bishop Brady to a 20-2 record and a berth in the New Hampshire State Class I final. He was named New Hampshire Player of the Year by USA Today Dhondt, a 6-6, 215-lb. forward, averaged 13.0 ppg and 7.9 rpg for Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, CA) prior to arriving at B.U. He was named the team's Most Valuable Player and set a school single-season record with 275 rebounds.
America East Success Boston University is one of the charter members of the America East Conference, which was founded in 1979 In those 21 seasons, the Terriers have won a league-record 172 conference and 31 tournament contests, including championships in 1983, 1988, 1990, and 1997.
New Staff In Place Head Coach Dennis Wolff has added some new faces to the Terrier staff for the 2000-01 season. Jason Williford, a former four-year player at the University of Virginia, was hired as the Terriers' third assistant coach on May 31. In addition, Paul Brazeau was named Director of Men's Basketball Operations on November 1. Brazeau spent the past eight years as head coach of the University of Hartford. Dan Turner was named the team's administrative assistant on November 1, as well. Turner served as an assistant coach at Lesley University and a part-time assistant at Bunker Hill Community College in 1999-2000.
Promising Futures Sophomore Paul Seymour had a memorable freshman season for the Terriers, and actually saved some of his best basketball for the end of the season. He scored in double figures in the final 12 games of the season, averaging 18.2 ppg... Jacob Kudlacz also showed glimpses of his future when he scored a career-high 19 points and added 11 rebounds in a 75-64 win over Hartford on Feb. 19... Matt Turner also showed he is capable of running the offense for the Terriers, scoring 20 points with six assists in his first-ever collegiate game, a 78-65 loss to Northern Illinois. He followed that performance two games later with 15 points and six assists in a 91-79 loss to James Madison.
Paul Seymour: America East Rookie of the Year Paul Seymour became the third Terrier in the 90's to be named the America East Conference Rookie of the Year, joining Raja Bell in 1995 and Tunji Awojobi in 1994. Seymour, a three-time Rookie of the Week selection in 1999-2000, led the team in scoring with Jean Avebe, averaging 12.1 ppg. He led the team in scoring in 12-of-29 games, including six of the final eight.
It's Raining Three's Paul Seymour hit 70-of-192 three-pointers in 1999-2000, nine shy of the Terrier single-season record of 79 set by Mark Daly (92) in 1991-92. Seymour's 70 three's were only two behind Delaware's John Gordon, who connected for an America East single-season best 72 long-range jumpers in 1996-97. Seymour also hit six three's in a game three times, one shy of the school mark of seven held by Daly (twice) and Billy Beal... Seymour, who shot 36.5% from three-point range, was 10th in the conference last year in that category.
