Feb. 3, 2011
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AExtra: Looking Back at Holland's 2,000-point Milestone
BOSTON - Coming off a key 88-78 home victory over league leader Maine, the Boston University men's basketball team travels to Stony Brook Friday night for a 7 p.m. tip-off. The Terriers (11-13, 6-4 AE) are looking for their first sweep of the season after earlier defeating the Seawolves (9-12, 4-5 AE) in Case Gym, 67-62.
Just 20 points away from moving into eighth-place all-time in the America East, senior John Holland played a critical role in the last meeting against SBU, scoring 20 of his game-high 29 points in the second half. Averaging 18.9 ppg, he is currently on track to become just the fourth-ever in league history to lead the conference in scoring in back-to-back seasons. One of the men helping him along the way is freshman D.J. Irving, who had six assists along with 13 points in the win over the Seawolves.
The 6-foot-0 point guard is directing an offense that ranks third in the conference for scoring at 65.7 ppg and first for frewest turnovers allowed at 12.1 per game. The offense hasn't always taken advantage of the extra possessions by ranking fifth in field goal percentage (.392), but on Tuesday, it showed Maine what can happen when everything falls into place.
Hitting a season-high 52.5 percent of its attempts, the Terriers exploded for 88 points and had five men finish in double figures for the second time this season. Contributing 17 in the contest, junior Darryl Partin now ranks ninth at 13.7 ppg but more importantly sixth in conference-only games at 15.7 ppg.
On the defensive front, junior Patrick Hazel has proven to be the Terriers' top stopper inside the paint. Through 24 games, he already ranks seventh all-time at BU with 43 blocks in a season and just needs six more to tie Rashad Bell ('05) for fifth. He is averaging 5.5 rpg, while Holland is at 5.6 rpg along with a team-high 34 steals. With junior Jake O'Brien out for the season, junior Jeff Pelage and freshman Dom Morris have stepped up and are averaging a combined 8.9 rpg.
BU faces a difficult task Friday night with a tough Stony Brook defense that is allowing just 61.1 ppg. The Seawolves are on a two-game winning streak after earning a 69-35 win over Hartford and a 69-59 victory against UMBC. Bryan Dougher leads the team in scoring at 13.4 ppg, while Marcus Rouse is second at 8.7 ppg. Freshman Anthony Mayo is first on the team with blocks at 23, and Dallis Joyner is the top rebounder at 6.8 rpg.
The Terriers have a 15-6 advantage in the all-time series but are only 5-4 at SBU with the last two contests ending in double-digit losses. At the end of both contests, they were unable to score more than 55 points. With just six conference games remaining, BU will look to earn the win and stay within distance of Vermont and Maine, who are both two games ahead in the league standings.
Following the trip to Long Island, the Terriers will head home to practice and then travel back to New York for the Big Apple Battle against Albany at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, Feb. 10.
