Dec. 29, 2009
Final Stats
DAYTON, Ohio - The Boston University men's basketball team cut a 15-point first half deficit to four with 14 minutes remaining in the second, but Atlantic 10 preseason favorite Dayton held off the rally and fed on the energy of a sellout crowd of 13,435 fans to a 74-60 victory Tuesday night at UD Arena. Corey Lowe had a team high 17 points and seven rebounds for the Terriers (5-7), while Rob Lowery drained seven 3-pointers to help extend the Flyers' (10-2) win streak at home to 27 games.
Carlos Strong was the other Terrier in double figures with 13 points off a perfect 4-of-4 performance from the field, while Jake O'Brien had nine points and six boards. Holland finished with nine points and saw his streak of scoring 10 or more end at 29 games, which was the fifth longest in the nation coming into the contest.
BU shot 21-for-54 (.389) from the field, while Dayton hit 27-for-51 (.529) to pull out the win. Lowery and Wooden Award watch list member Chris Wright were a combined 16-for-20 for the Flyers. Lowery finished with 23 points, and Wright had 19 points along with a game-high eight boards. The Flyers won the rebound battle, 33-27, but committed one more turnover, 15-14.
Dayton stormed out of the gate to a commanding 17-2 lead capped by two free throws from Chris Johnson at 12:42. Wright's fastbreak dunk at 7:43 put the Flyers ahead, 27-13, but the Terriers responded with a 7-0 run that could have been larger.
Lowe first hit all three free throws after being fouled attempting a 3-pointer, and then Carlos Strong hit his third trey of the half to cut the deficit to eight. Holland made 1-of-2 free throws at 5:06 to finish the run.
On the ensuing possession, the Terriers got the defensive stop but missed two open 3-pointers to cut the lead. Following a Lowery 3-pointer, Lowe drained one of his own, but then Lowery came back down the court again to hit another trey and push the lead to 10 at 3:22.
Trailing 38-29 with 14 seconds remaining, BU had a chance to score but committed its 10th turnover of the half, and Dayton made the Terriers pay, as Lowery hit a 3-pointer inside the midcourt line at the buzzer for a 41-29 lead at the half.
After going 5-for-16 in the first half from beyond the arc in the first stanza, the Terriers caught on fire and went 5-for-7 in the first five and a half minutes of the second to cut the deficit to four at 54-50 with 14:30 remaining. Morris hit a trey on the first possession, and Lowe drained three more in that time period. O'Brien's trey at the end of the rally turned out to be the last one of the game for BU.
Holland had two chances to cut the deficit to one with 3-point attempts but missed both, allowing Wright to stop the comeback with six straight points that included a dunk to the delight of fans at 11:24.
Morris's layup put the score at 60-52, but the Terriers never got any closer. The Flyers' depth shined with all 10 men who appeared in the contest playing between 14 and 26 minutes, while BU had five men play over 30. Dayton tallied 48 points from the bench against BU's 16.
The Terriers will next host Stony Brook in the America East opener on Saturday at Case Gym with the start time set for 12 p.m. in a contest that will be televised by NESN.
