Men's Basketball Opens Season with Northeastern Friday Night
November 12, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2010
Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes
Boston Globe Preview: Pleased to Meet You
BOSTON - Tipping off its 102nd season, the America East preseason No. 1 Boston University men's basketball team opens the schedule for the first time in over 60 years with crosstown rival Northeastern at Matthews Arena Friday night at 7 p.m. Second-year head coach Patrick Chambers and the Terriers will be in the unique situation of having only three returnees from the previous year's squad.
The three lettermen include preseason All-Conference members John Holland and Jake O'Brien. A senior and two-time First Team All-Conference honoree, Holland ranks sixth all-time at BU in career points with 1,558 after becoming the first-ever Terrier to lead the America East in scoring last season at 19.2 ppg. He also ranks seventh in career steals and just needs 14 more to crack into the top five.
One of three captains on this year's team, the junior O'Brien posted seven double-doubles, the most by a Terrier since 2005-06. He finished the year ranked seventh in the league in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and 11th in scoring (13.8 ppg) to earn Third Team All-Conference honors after being named Rookie of the Year in 2009. He will be joined in the post this season by classmate Jeff Pelage, who is currently day-to-day with a high ankle sprain. Pelage was 13th in rebounding last season at 5.6 rpg.
Expected to make big contributions this year will be the three transfers who watched from the sidelines last year BU advance to the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational and finish with a 21-14 record. Tri-captains Patrick Hazel (Marquette) and Matt Griffin (Rider) along with Darryl Partin (La Salle) will all play major minutes as the seven-member freshmen class gains experience.
Ranked the best in the America East by Scouts Inc., the Class of 2014 is highlighted by D.J. Irving, a 6-foot-0 point guard who earned First Team All-AAA State and Main Line Player of the Year honors at Archbishop Carroll in Radnor, Pa. The group also has size in 6-foot-7, 240-pound forward Dom Morris and 7-foot-1, 265-pound Mat Piotrowski.
All 14 players will start a difficult non-conference schedule with rival Northeastern, who last year finished second in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Huskies are a young squad that returns two starters and eight letterwinners, including preseason All-Conference First Team selection Chaisson Allen. Picked to finish seventh this year, they are led by fifth-year head coach Bill Coen.
BU leads the all-time series, 71-66, after winning the last two games. In 2008 at Matthews Arena, the Terriers shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half to pull away with an 83-75 victory. Last year, BU hit a game-tying jumper at Case Gym with 23 seconds left in regulation and came out with a 69-64 victory for the first overtime game between the two teams since 2002. Jake O'Brien has been the offensive spark in both contests, contributing a combined 37 points after the first half.
Following the game, the Terriers will practice this weekend before driving down to Villanova to compete in the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off, beginning with George Washington on Tuesday (Nov. 16) at 8:00 p.m.
