Feb. 15, 2011
Box Score | Highlights
Postgame Comments: Part I | Part II
BOSTON - Backed by a combined 47 points from senior John Holland and junior Darryl Partin, the Boston University men's basketball team defeated UMBC, 85-53, on Tuesday night at Agganis Arena. Earning the wire-to-wire victory and maintaining their second-place standing, the Terriers improve to 15-13 and 10-4 in America East play.
Ahead 14-11 with 13:42 remaining in the first half, BU went on a 22-5 run over the next nine minutes and never saw its lead cut below 18 the rest of the way. With their largest margin of victory on the season against the Retrievers (5-22, 4-10 AE), the Terriers completed their home conference schedule with a perfect record for the first time since 1998.
Named America East Player of the Game, Holland went 9-of-14 to finish with a game-high 24 points along with nine rebounds. Though the league's reigning Player of the Week fell one rebound shy of a double-double, he recorded three steals to move into second-place all-time at BU with 195, now just five shy of tying the school record. Partin added 23 points, while junior Patrick Hazel contributed eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Junior Chris De La Rosa was the lone Retriever in double figures with 11 points, and Jamar Wertz had the team high in rebounds with just five. UMBC's AE Player of the Game Adrian Satchell was the most efficient on the court, shooting 3-of-5 for seven points, as the Retrievers ended the game 20-of-55 (.364).
Ranking third in the league for scoring at 16.3 ppg, De La Rosa entered the contest averaging 6.5 assists per game while also holding a league-high 2.33 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Terriers never let him get in to a rhythm, enticing the point guard into five turnovers. On the flip side, freshman D.J. Irving had his way setting up one of the region's top offensive duos in Partin and Holland with six assists.
Now averaging a combined 36.9 ppg in conference games, Holland and Partin each had nine points in the first half to give the BU a commanding 42-24 lead at the half. The Terriers shot a stifling 17-of-33 (.515) and 6-of-14 (.429) from beyond the arc to grab its largest halftime lead of the season, topping the 14-point margin against George Washington back in November.
Holland opened the second with two made free throws, and Partin followed with a jumper and layup to extend the lead to 48-24 with 17:58 left in the second. Satchell's made shot at the charity stripe at 15:14 briefly cut UMBC's deficit to 18 (49-31).
With Holland and Partin contributing a combined 10 points, the Terriers responded with a 12-0 run capped by a jumper from junior Jeff Pelage at 11:56. Freshman Mike Terry Jr.'s 3-pointer five minutes later gave BU its largest lead of the game, 76-41.
The Terriers finished 33-of-66 (.500) and won the rebound battle, 44-29. More impressively, they scored 40 points in the paint against just 14 from UMBC.
Taking up space inside on both ends of the court, Hazel had four blocks to increase his season total to 50, marking the most-ever by a Terrier not named Tunji Awojobi ('97), who finished his BU Hall of Fame career with 302 blocks.
BU will next host Canisius as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters on Saturday (Feb. 19) at Agganis Arena with action slated to begin at 2 p.m.
Former league rivals during the 1980s, the Terriers and Golden Griffins last met in 2005. BU owns a 13-8 lead in the all-time series and will look to extend the win streak to four games in the final home game of the regular season.
The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a free BU Beanie Hat.
