Jan. 11, 2012

Box Score

ORONO, Maine - Recording his first-ever double-double, sophomore D.J. Irving tallied a career-high 23 points and dished out 11 assists to help lead the Boston University men's basketball team to a 77-68 victory at Maine on Wednesday night. Overcoming a late 10-point first half deficit, the Terriers improve to 6-11 and 2-1 in conference play, while the Black Bears (8-6, 2-1 AE) suffer their first loss at home after starting the season at 5-0.

Named BU's America East Player of the Game, Irving went 8-of-14 from the field and tied a personal high in assists against just two turnovers. His unconventional double-double is the first by a Terrier since LeVar Folk ('99) had 11 points and 10 assists against Delaware on Feb. 21, 1998.

Competing in his second year at BU, senior Darryl Partin finished in double figures with a game-high 27 points, as he eclipsed the 1,000-point milestone. Classmate Matt Griffin added 10 off the bench with three assists and two steals. On the defensive end, redshirt freshman Malik Thomas posted a season-high nine rebounds to help the Terriers win the battle at the boards, 36-30.

Shooting 51.9 percent from the field, Maine was led by AE Player of the Game Justin Edwards, who posted 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Alasdair Fraser was close to a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Gerald McLemore recorded a team-high 17 points with 12 coming in the first half. 

The Terriers shot 32.4 percent in the first and needed a half-court heave from Irving to only trail at the half, 33-27. After Maine opened the second with a basket to grab an eight-point advantage, BU went 57.7 percent from the field and used an 18-6 run to take the lead for good.

Partin led the offensive charge, going a perfect 6-of-6 in 3-point attempts and 9-of-12 overall in the second stanza after shooting 1-of-10 in the first half. He scored 24 points in the first 10:30 to give BU a commanding 65-48 lead.

Entering the game shooting 29.6 percent from behind the arc, the Terriers went 12-of-16 (.750) at Maine, including 9-of-11 (.816) in the second half. Maine scored 36 points in the paint against BU's 10 but only shot 6-of-19 (.316) in 3-point attempts.

BU also rallied to beat Maine by taking care of the basketball with just four turnovers in the second half after committing eight in the first. Defensively, the Terriers enticed the Black Bears into 15 miscues during the contest for the win.

Snapping a two-game losing streak at Alfond Arena, the Terriers will next return to Case Gym to host Stony Brook on Saturday (Jan. 14) at 12 p.m. in a rematch of the 2011 America East championship game.

In that contest, BU overcame a 15-point second half deficit to earn a thrilling 56-54 come-from-behind victory and advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002.