Nov. 16, 2012
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Parking Advisory | BU Today: Young team "living in the here and now"
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BOSTON - After a season-opening two-game road trip, the Boston University men's basketball team is set to host Atlantic 10 foe George Washington in Saturday's home opener at Case Gym with tip-off slated for 1 p.m. With Jack Edwards providing play-by-play and Abu Bakr on color, NESN will broadcast live the seventh meeting between the two programs in the last eight years.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early as there will be a BU basketball cooler giveaway and a pregame fan fest starting at 12 p.m. outside of Case Gym with free food, giveaways and more!
Both teams are looking for their first wins of the season after the Terriers (0-2) suffered a heartbreaking 65-64 loss at Northeastern due to a buzzer beater and an 83-75 defeat at Canisius. BU moved within three on the Golden Griffins with 2:54 remaining, but they pulled away in the final minute. The Colonials (0-1) are coming off an 80-73 home loss to Youngstown State.
George Washington owns a 17-2 advantage in the series, but BU won the last meeting, 76-67, at the 2010 NIT Season Tip-Off en route to the NCAA tournament. Showing the Terriers youth, juniors D.J. Irving, Dom Morris and Travis Robinson are the only players remainaing from that season. Morris contributed nine points, while Irving recorded seven points, a career-high four steals and two assists.
This season, BU is without America East Player of the Year honorees John Holland ('11) and Darryl Partin ('12) due to graduation, leaving other men the opportunity to step up offensively. Entering the season at 9.6 ppg, Irving has taken the scoring mantle so far with 18 points at Northeastern and 20 points at Canisius, a performance that marked his third-ever 20+ point game.
Though it's too early in the season to learn the No. 2 scorer with such a young squad, several Terriers have shown they are capable of contributing. Sophomore Malik Thomas tallied 13 points against the Huskies before freshman John Papale drained five straight 3-pointers at Canisius en route to 17 points. A 2012 PARADE All-American, freshman Maurice Watson Jr. has directed the offense averaging 5.5 assists the last two games.
On the defensive end, BU has undergone early season growing pains, having allowed their first two opponents to shoot 49.5 percent from the field. Canisius and Northeastern also went to the line a combined 55 times against BU's 23 trips. However, the Terriers currently have a positive rebounding margin of 3.5 rebounds per game with freshman Nathan Dieudonne and junior Travis Robinson averaging 6.5 rpg.
They will face a GW squad led by 6-foot-9 senior transfer Isaiah Armwood, who posted 18 points against Youngstown. He joined the Colonials from Villanova and coincidentally faced BU following the Terriers' win against GW at the 2010 NIT Season Tip-Off. Senior Lasan Kromah missed the 2010 meeting but was a key factor in the Colonials' 69-59 win against the Terriers in 2009 as a freshman. In that contest, he went 5-of-8 with four made field goals coming from behind the arc en route to 17 points.
GW is led by a familiar face, former Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan. The Terriers and Catamounts had many memorable battles during his tenure with UVM coming out on top in the 2010 America East championship game. In his last year with the Cats though, BU claimed a regular season sweep.
The two teams share another unique connection through GW Hall of Fame player Matt Zunic ('42). After one year as an assistant with the Colonials in 1951, he went on to coach the Terriers from 1952-59, leading BU to the Elite Eight of the 1959 NCAA tournament.
Following Saturday's game, the Terriers will return to the road with a visit to Rutgers on Tuesday (Nov. 20) with action set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
