Boston University
Marshall
Marshall Outlasts Terriers, 84-80
December 6, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2008
BOSTON - Junior Corey Lowe scored a career-high 36 points to lead the Terriers, but the Boston University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 84-80 decision against Marshall on Saturday afternoon at Agganis Arena. The Thundering Herd (3-4) hit 25-of-30 free throws in the second half to edge out BU, which drops to 4-3 on the young season.
Tyler Morris knocked down two free throw attempts with 3:28 remaining in regulation to help BU tie its largest lead of the game at 72-68, but Marshall responded by scoring 16 of the final 24 points in the contest with 12 of them coming from the charity stripe.
Named America East player of the game for the first time this season, Lowe hit 58 percent of his attempts (11-of-19), including 7-of-10 from the 3-point line, to give the Terriers life throughout the contest. His seven made 3-pointers place him fourth in program history with 177 career treys, tied with Chaz Carr (2001-05). Mark Daly (1988-92) currently holds the top spot with 202.
Both John Holland and Morris finished in double-figures with 14 and 13, respectively, while Carlos Strong and Jake O'Brien led BU with seven rebounds each, as the Terriers outrebounded Marshall 33-30. Damier Pitts was 9-of-11 from the line and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to lead the Herd with a career-high 20 points. Shaquille Johnson and Tyler Wilkerson each had 15, while Chris Lutz and Markel Humphrey combined for 23. Humphrey led MU in rebounds with six in a game where the lead changed 12 times.
The Herd jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead after a lyup by Tyler Wilkerson at 17:19. In the following minute of action, Lowe nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Terriers their first lead of the game at 9-8. Strong hit one of his own at 7:56 to get the lead back, 21-20, but Marshall's Pitts responded with five points off a trey and two made free throws to cap an 8-0 run with 3:31 remaining in the half.
Lowe hit his third 3-pointer with 39 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one, as he entered the locker room with a game-high 11 points with Marshall holding a slim 31-30 lead. As a team, BU only hit 34.6 percent (9-of-26), while the Herd hit 12-of-24. However, MU committed 10 turnovers, and the Terriers took advantage with 13 points to keep the game close.
With 16:04 remaining, Holland drained a trey to give BU its first lead of the second half at 41-39. Two minutes later, Morris hit one to give his team the largest lead of the game at 44-40. Humphrey's free throw at 12:28 tied the game for the fifth time.
Both teams exchanged leads during the following eight minutes with Morris putting BU ahead, 72-68, with 3:28 remaining. Johnson scored two consecutive layups to tie the game at 72-72 at 2:18. Seconds later, Lowe hit two free-throws to push the lead back to two, but Lutz tied the game again at 1:41 with two made free throws.
On the ensuing possession following Lutz's trip to the line, Holland missed a tough shot in traffic near the basket and was quickly called with the foul after trying to grab the rebound. Johnson connected on both of his free throws to give the Herd the lead for good at 1:16.
Trying to prevent Lowe from tying the game with one shot beyond the arc once the lead increased to three after Pitts hit 1-of-2 free throws with 41 seconds remaining, Marshall employed the strategy of sending the sharpshooter to the line. Lowe missed one of his four attempts in the teams' exchange between free throw shots. Following Pitts' two made free throws with 16 seconds left, Lowe hit a deep 3-pointer to break his previous-record high of 35 points, set almost one year ago on the road at Yale, to cut the deficit down to one, 81-80.
With eight seconds remaining, Lutz made his first free throw attempt but missed the second, giving BU life in the game. However, Tirrell Baines grabbed the offensive rebound, but instead of holding onto the ball, he fired off a shot in hopes of ending the game. The ball went off a Terrier and then rolled out of bounds to remain in the Herd's possession. Quickly fouled, Humphrey made two free throws to close the game out, 84-80.
The loss marked the first time this season that BU dropped a decision when leading a game with five minutes remaining in regulation. The Terriers only lost one game in similar fashion last season. They finished with a 43.9 field goal percentage, while Marshall ended the game at 50.0 percent. MU's 11 extra made free throw shots (27-16) proved to be the difference.
15th-year head coach Dennis Wolff's squad will look to regroup from the tough loss, as the players head back to The Roof on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. to host Yale. The Bulldogs represent the second of three Ivy League schools that BU will face this season. The Terriers beat Harvard, 75-59, on Tuesday and will visit defending conference champion Cornell on Monday, Dec. 29.
