Men's Basketball Hosts Harvard Sunday Evening at The Roof
November 28, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2009
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BOSTON - After earning a 69-64 overtime victory over Northeastern on Wednesday, the Boston University men's basketball team (2-4) hosts its second consecutive cross-town rival in Harvard (4-1) on Sunday at 5 p.m. in Case Gym. The Terriers will seek their ninth-straight win against the Crimson in a rivalry that dates back to the 1904-05 season.
Harvard has a 32-27 edge in the series, but the Terriers have rallied in the past two decades, taking 15 of the last 16 games played. Harvard has not won on BU's campus since pulling out a 102-92 victory on Dec. 13, 1972, though the two programs did not meet between 1977 and 1990. The Crimson's last victory, 76-60, happened on Dec. 5, 2000.
For the first time since 2004-05 when BU had Rashad Bell ('05) and Chaz Carr ('05), the Terriers will enter a game featuring two active 1,000-point scorers in senior Corey Lowe and junior John Holland. The school record holder in career made 3-pointers with 250, Lowe tallied a game-high 18 points against Northeastern to move by Carr and Mike Alexander ('87) into seventh-place all-time in points with 1,418. Holland finished with 15 against the Huskies, though scored six of them in overtime to become the 29th Terrier in program history to reach the landmark.
Last season at Lavietes Pavilion, the two men along with 2009 America East Rookie of the Year Jake O'Brien each hit seven field goals to earn a 75-59 victory. Both teams shot 47 percent from the field, but BU hit 13 3-pointers against the Crimson's two. Leading 54-43 with just under 12 minutes remaining, the Terriers went on a 17-4 run to prevent any chance of late-game heroics.
Picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League preseason poll, the Crimson returns three starters from last season's team that finished 14-14 and 6-8 in conference play for a sixth-place finish. Tallying a team-high 17 points last year, senior Jeremy Lin is averaging 15.8 ppg along with 4.8 rpg and 5.2 apg. Freshman 6-7 forward Kyle Casey has yet to start a game but leads the Crimson in rebounding at 5.2 rpg. The Crimson will try to tire the Terriers out, as 11 players average 9.8 minutes or more a game.
While Harvard only has one player scoring in double-figures, the Terriers have four, led by Holland at 20.0 ppg. The 2009 First Team All-America East honoree is only 0.2 rpg shy of rebound leader, Carlos Strong, who has 6.7 rpg along with 7.2 ppg. Tyler Morris is tallying 11.8 ppg, while O'Brien has a 10.7 ppg average after starting the first two games with a combined 12 points. While the team is only shooting 34.7 percent from the field so far, BU has been strong at the charity stripe, hitting 74.9 of its attempts.
BU has been without the services of 6-9 senior Scott Brittain the first six games, but has begun to receive valuable minutes from 6-3 freshman guard B.J. Bailey, especially when others have been in foul trouble. The 2009 Atlantic City Press Player of the Year recorded a season-best 21 minutes against Northeastern, tallying six points, three rebounds and a steal. Senior Valdas Sirutis has also stepped up in Brittain's absence, contributing 2.2 ppg and 2.5 rpg.
Following the contest, the Terriers will begin preparations for arguably their toughest challenge of the season, a meeting with Big East perennial power Connecticut on Wednesday at the Hartford XL Center.
