Boston University
Yale
Second-Half Defense Helps BU Defeat Yale, 55-43
December 10, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2008
BOSTON - The Boston University men's basketball team overcame a season-high 20 turnovers with gritty defense in the second half to defeat Yale, 55-43, on Wednesday night at Case Gymnasium. Jake O'Brien's game-high 13 points, including a 3-point dagger that gave BU a 54-43 lead with 1:25 remaining, helped the Terriers improve to 5-3, while the Bulldogs dropped to 2-6 on the season.
Yale hit 44.8% of its shots in the first half to keep the game tied, 28-28, heading into the locker room and scored 20 of those points in the paint. However, the Terriers stood their ground in the second stanza and only gave up six near the basket the rest of the way. Ross Morin's jumper with 13:08 remaining in regulation gave the Bulldogs a 36-33 lead, but they would not hit another field goal until Porter Braswell drained a 3-pointer with 2:26 remaining to stop a 16-4 BU run.
Even with an off-night from the field (3-of-10), junior Corey Lowe scored 12 points to join O'Brien, named America East player of the game, as the only Terriers to finish in double-figures. He now has 990 career points and is just 10 away from becoming the 28th Terrier to reach the 1,000-point benchmark.
Classmate Tyler Morris had a standout defensive performance, posting a career-high seven rebounds along with a game-high four assists and two steals. Morin led Yale with 12 points and seven rebounds, while the team's leading scorer entering the game, Alex Zampier (16.7 ppg) only managed five points, all in the first half, after a 2-of-14 performance from the field.
In the first half, neither team could get a handle on the game as both combined for 20 turnovers. Yale took their largest lead of the game when Morin made a layup to put the Bulldogs ahead, 11-7, at 13:53. Paul Nelson's jumper less than two minutes later put Yale back at four, 13-9, but the Terriers responded with a 18-9 run that was capped by Lowe's 3-pointer with 2:46 remaining to give BU its largest lead of the half, 27-22.
Yale held tough and managed to tie the game, 28-28, with eight seconds remaining on a layup by Morin. The Bulldogs were 13-of-29 (44.8%) against BU's 8-of-19 (42.1%), though the Terriers had three more treys and were also 8-of-9 from the charity stripe.
Sophomore John Holland scored the first basket of the second half for either team at 17:59, and senior Matt Wolff scored BU's next three points off a free throw and layup to put BU ahead 33-30 at 16:42. Yale scored the following six points off layups by Gibson, Braswell and Morrin to take a 36-33 lead, but Carlos Strong's jumper and O'Brien's three-point play after a layup and made free throw put the Terriers ahead for good, 38-36, with 12:14 remaining.
Two free throws by Scott Brittain, who also had a season-high six rebounds, extended the lead to six, 43-37, at 7:41, but 3-of-4 made free throws in a 30-second span from Gibson cut the deficit down to three. Morris pushed the lead to seven, 47-40, with his second 3-pointer of the game at 3:55, and Lowe added two more points off free throws at 2:34.
Braswell's shot from beyond the arc cut the lead to six, 49-43. O'Brien responded on the ensuing drive with a layup and then a 3-pointer following a missed Zampier 3-point attempt to take away any hope of Yale attempting a late-game rally. Lowe hit a free throw with 42 seconds remaining to give BU their largest lead of the game.
Yale's 15 points in the second half were the fewest allowed by the Terriers in a half this season, and the Bulldogs' 43 total points marked the lowest output by an opponent since BU defeated New Hampshire, 53-29, during the 2006-07 season.
With the victory, 15th-year head coach Dennis Wolff improves his record to 19-2 against Ivy League schools, as the Terriers extended their unbeaten streak to 12 games with the last loss coming in 2001 against Columbia.
Also, BU earned its 200th career win in Case Gymnasium. Nicknamed The Roof, it opened in 1972 and has now hosted 284 games (200-84, .704 winning percentage), including Wolff's America East conference tournament title victories in 1997 and 2002.
Up next for the Terriers is a trip to South Bend., Ind., for a matchup with No. 12-nationally ranked Notre Dame on Saturday (Dec. 13). Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Joyce Center.
