Jan. 6, 2010
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BOSTON - Beginning a treacherous journey of having to face seven of the next nine America East opponents on the road, the Boston University men's basketball team visits New Hampshire Thursday night with action set for 7 p.m. Featuring the top scoring offense in the conference, the Terriers (5-8, 0-1 AE) will seek their fifth straight victory against the Wildcats (5-6), who enter the contest with an undefeated record at home this season.
Owning an 89-36 record over UNH, the Terriers dominated the two games last year, earning a 68-37 win at Case Gym followed by a 67-49 victory at Lundholm Gym. Junior John Holland was a combined 14-for-26 (.538) and 6-for-14 (.429) from beyond the arc to lead BU offensively with 41 points. The defense was the key factor in the two games though, holding UNH to a 2-for-33 (.061) performance at the 3-point line in the first game and a combined 32-for-125 (.256) shooting from the field.
Currently ranked second in the league in scoring at 18.4 ppg, John Holland will need to have another strong offensive performance, after the Terriers suffered a blow Tuesday when senior co-captain Tyler Morris injured his hand in practice. Expected by first-year head coach Patrick Chambers to return to action in a month, he was fourth on the team at 11.2 ppg and was also adding 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals per contest.
Senior guard Corey Lowe and junior forward Jake O'Brien are the other two scorers averaging double figures at 14.4 and 13.8 ppg, respectively. O'Brien tallied a career-high 27 points against Stony Brook Saturday while hitting a personal-best six 3-pointers on eight attempts. Becoming the sixth Terrier to reach the 1,500-point mark in the history of the program against the Seawolves, Lowe currently sits with 1,507 and only needs 21 more to surpass Paul Hendricks ('87) and 173 to surpass No. 3 and New England Hall of Famer Jim Hayes ('70).
Ranked second in the conference in assists at 5.1 apg, Lowe is also tied-for-sixth in steals at 1.5 spg. He along with the other Terriers will need to stay out of foul trouble, as BU enters the game with just 10 men in uniform. O'Brien has been the top interior defender this season, posting the league's second best average in blocks at 1.4 bpg along with a 6.6 rpg. Holland is third in the conference with a 1.9 spg and will look to help shut down a UNH squad that has been more comofrtable at home, averaging 72.4 ppg compared to an overall season average of 61.9 ppg.
The Wildcats are coming off a 71-68 loss at Santa Clara and will be opening the conference schedule with the Terriers. Their wins at home include Suffolk, Marist, Central Connecticut State, Dartmouth and Colgate. The 5-0 start maches the program's best home start since the 1968-69 season. They shared two common non-conference opponents with BU in Marist and Harvard. Both teams knocked off the Red Foxes, while the Crimson earned wins over UNH (78-60) and the Terriers (78-70).
Offensively, the Wildcats feature three juniors in the top-20 in the conference for scoring. Alvin Abreu leads UNH at 13.5 ppg and is followed by Tyrone Conley (12.6 ppg) and Dane DiLiegro (11.8 ppg), who is also third in the league in rebounding at 8.4 rpg. Senior Radar Ongeutou is 10th at 5.9 rpg and has helped the Wildcats allow the fewest points per game during the non-conference schedule at 61.7 ppg with Stony Brook 1.3 points behind at 63.0.
Following the game, the Terriers will continue a two-game road trip with a visit to Hartford on Saturday (Jan. 9) at 2 p.m.
