Men's Basketball Visits St. Bonaventure on Saturday
December 1, 2006 | Men's Basketball
In BU's last game, the Terriers faced an excellent defensive team in the Hawks of St. Joseph's University and lost 55-39 in a turnover-filled game on Monday night. St. Bonaventure fell to Niagara 74-63 Wednesday evening after the Purple Eagles used a 22-2 run that spanned both halves to move past the Bonnies.
There is not much history between the two teams, as they have only met twice. St. Bonaventure has won both games - 67-61 on Feb. 16, 1983 in St. Bonaventure and 75-60 on Feb. 20, 1984 in Boston. Senior Omari Peterkin was the only Terrier alive when these games occurred. The forward was 14 months old during the 1984 game.
It is a homecoming of sorts for Terrier head coach Dennis Wolff. He began his coaching career at SBU as an assistant to Jim O'Brien in the early 80's. Wolff assisted O'Brien from 1982-85, and in the 1983-84 season the Bonnies went 20-10 and earned an NIT berth. Wolff coached against his current team during the 1982-83 and 83-84 seasons, helping the Bonnies earn two wins against the Terriers.
BU VS. THE A-10: BU is 43-83 all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10. The Terriers have five opponents from the A-10 on the schedule this year. BU lost to George Washington 70-57 on Nov. 10 and St. Joseph's 55-39 on Nov. 27. The Terriers have St. Bonaventure tonight, UMass at home in Agganis on Dec. 6, and Rhode Island on the road Dec. 22 A look at BU's all-time marks against the A-10, with Wolff's career record in parentheses:
Charlotte 1-4 (1-1)
Dayton 0-0 (0-0)
Duquesne 0-0 (0-0)
Fordham 4-0 (3-0)
George Washington 1-14 (0-6)
La Salle 1-1 (1-0)
Massachusetts 29-39 (0-4)
Rhode Island 11-20 (1-4)
Richmond 2-1 (0-0)
St. Bonaventure 0-2 (0-0)
St. Joseph's 0-3 (0-2)
St. Louis 0-0 (0-0)
Last Time Out (St. Joe's 55, BU 39, 11/27): The Hawks turned up the defensive pressure and scored the first six points of the second half to take a 31-26 lead at 15:59. A three by Lowe broke the rally at 14:11, and the guard dropped in another at 12:17 to tie the game at 32. But SJU answered with a Darrin Govens three to retake the lead at 11:58 and spark a decisive 23-7 run by the Hawks to finish out the game. St. Joseph's put pressure on BU early and forced several turnovers but held only a 6-2 lead to start the game. Morris gave the Terriers their first lead of the game, 9-8, on a 3-pointer at 13:35. Sherrod Smith gave BU the lead again, 12-11, after converting a three-point play at 11:14. The lead changed hands several times over the next four minutes, with BU holding a slim 18-17 advantage at 7:11. BU and SJU continued to duel, but the Hawks moved out to a 24-20 advantage on a pair of free throws by Pat Calathes at 4:40 and a wide open three by Govens. The Terriers evened it out at 25 on five points by sophomore Marques Johnson (Hazlet, N.J.) and took a narrow 26-25 lead at 1:20 on a Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont.) free throw into the half after confusion on a last-second inbounds play under the St. Joe's basket. Turnovers plagued the Terriers all the way through the game as BU committed 26 miscues. SJU capitalized on the errors, scoring 29 points off those turnovers. The Terriers did find success at the free throw line, making 13-of-15 attempts to shoot 86.7 percent from the charity stripe.
BU returns to Boston for its first home game in three weeks when the Terriers host the Minutemen of UMass on Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. in Agganis Arena. The Terrier women will play Brown in the first game of the doubleheader.
