Nov. 29, 2010
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Video: BU shooting around at Rupp Arena
BOSTON - Facing the NCAA's all-time leader in victories, the Boston University men's basketball team travels to No. 10 Kentucky for a Tuesday night contest with tip-off set for 7 p.m. at the famed Rupp Arena. The Terriers (4-3) are on a two-game winning streak, while the Wildcats (4-1) are coming off an 84-67 loss to Connecticut in the Maui Invitational title game.
Competing in its 102nd season, BU will be playing Kentucky (108th season) for just the third time and a SEC squad for the 10th time. The Terriers competed in a regular season tournament at Rupp Arena in 1986-87, earning a win over Texas A&M before falling to the Wildcats. They met again in 1994-95 with UK pulling out another victory.
The contest, which will be televised live on Fox Sports South and ESPN3.com, marks the second top-10 opponent for the Terriers, who earlier in November fell at No. 6 Villanova, 82-66. Since that loss, BU has failed to shoot 40 percent in a game but has still managed to go 3-1 in the following four contests because of the strong defensive effort.
The four opponents averaged 35.0 percent shooting and only went 25 percent from beyond the arc. Leading the way for BU is junior forward Patrick Hazel, who has a team-high 13 blocks along with a 5.6 rebounding average. Classmate and fellow captain Jake O'Brien is averaging 5.9 rpg, while senior John Holland has a team-high 12 steals. Freshman Dom Morris has grabbed loose balls at critical times on both the offensive and defensive end and is averaging 4.9 rpg.
While BU features four men who have tallied 20 points at least once in a game, the Terriers (63.7 ppg) have only reached 70 points once through seven contests after leading the America East in scoring last season at 72.1 ppg. Holland is averaging a team-high 17.9 ppg and has scored a game-high 28 points in wins over George Washington and Nevada. Junior Matt Griffin tallied all 21 of his points in the second half for the win over Marist, and classmate Darryl Partin recorded a career-high 32 points against Cornell.
The Terriers will need to make shots and rebound well against the Wildcats to stay competitive with the seven-time national champions in front of an expected crowd of 23,000+ fans. UK is shooting 45.5 percent from the field and is out-rebounding opponents by a 7.8 margin. A 6-foot-8 freshman forward, Terrence Jones is averaging a double-double for UK at 21.2 ppg and 10.6 rpg. Former teammate of junior Jeff Pelage at Pine Crest in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., freshman Brandon Knight is second in scoring at 16.2 ppg.
Following the contest, BU will remain on the road and travel to Bucknell for a 7 p.m. start time on Saturday (Dec. 4).
