Terriers Fall To Cal-Irvine In Tourney Championship Game
December 29, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Cal-Irvine forward Stanislav Zuzak scored nine points in the opening minutes of the game, helping the Anteaters build a 16-6 lead with 13:50 left. UCI controlled the action in the first half, shooting well from the field at 53.6 percent, and keeping B. U.'s offense at bay with a stifling defense, which held the Terriers to just 32 percent shooting in the opening half.
A fast break layup by Green with 2:19 left in the half gave UCI its largest lead of the game at 34-21. The Terriers closed out the half by scoring six unanswered points, including Ryan Butt's 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line to close the gap to seven points at the half, at 34-27. The Terriers were perfect from the free throw line in the first half, making all eight of their shots. They finished the game 22-for-24 at the line.
The Anteaters started pulling away early in the second half, thanks to hot shooting from behind the three-point line. Zuzak hit threes on consecutive trips down the floor, and guard Mike Hood added another to push UCI's advantage to 50-38 with 14:44 left. Once again, though, the scrappy Terriers climbed back into the game, as sophomore forward Jason Grochowalski (Shrewsbury, MA) hit a three-pointer and a baseline jumper to cut the lead to 50-45 with 13:51 remaining.
Again the visiting team extended the lead to 13 points, but B. U. continued its hot free throw shooting, cutting the lead to 65-51 thanks to seven straight free throws and a three-pointer from junior guard Paul Seymour (Liverpool, NY). Grochowalski added another two free throws to make the score 71-68 with 2:56 left, but the Terriers would get no closer, as Green hit 5-of-6 from the line in the final seconds.
Joining Green in double figures was Zuzak with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting, and Hood, who finished with 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the line.
Butt recorded hit second double double in as many nights, scoring 16 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. The previous night, in a 79-75 overtime win over Wisconsin-Green Bay, Butt scored 17 points and added a career-high 15 boards. He, along with freshman forward Chaz Carr (Manchester, CT) were B. U.'s representatives on the All-Tournament team. Carr finished with six points, after scoring a career-high 31 points against UWGB.
Junior forward Billy Collins (Concord, NH) had a team-high 17 points, and junior guard Paul Seymour scored 14 points. The Terriers strong free throw shooting was in stark contrast to the previous night's effort, in which B. U. made only 11-of-21.
Overall, Cal-Irvine (8-4) shot 56.8 percent from the field, the best any team has shot against B. U. this season.
Boston University (6-6, 0-0) begins its conference schedule with a game at New Hampshire on Wednesday, January 2. Game time is 7 p.m.
