Nov. 20, 2012

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PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Led by a combined 40 points from guards D.J. Irving and Maurice Watson Jr., the Boston University men's basketball team cut a 18-point first-half deficit to one late in the second but came up just short at Rutgers, 81-79, on Tuesday night. 

Recording a career-high 24 points, Irving drained a 3-pointer that brought BU within one, 77-76, with 8.2 seconds remaining in regulation. Looking to foul immediately, the Terriers were called with a flagrant after the Scarlet Knights put the ball in play, allowing Rutgers to hit two free throws and still retain possession.

Improving to 3-1, the Scarlet Knights added two more free throws to seal the win and prevent the Terriers (0-4) from earning their first victory against the Big East since 1986.

Four Terriers finished in double figures with Irving tallying 10 of his game-high 24 points from the free throw line on 10 attempts. Watson Jr. added 16 points along with seven assists, while freshman John Papale and junior Dom Morris contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore Malik Thomas led the defensive effort with a game-high nine rebounds, two steals and a block.

Eli Carter led Rutgers with 20 points and joined Irving with a perfect night at the charity stripe on eight attempts. Malick Cone and Myles Mack were the other two Scarlet Knights in double figures with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Finishing with eight rebounds, Kadeem Jack helped the home team out-rebound BU, 39-30.

After both squads opened the game with two turnovers apiece, Rutgers scored the first basket at 18:23 on a layup by Austin Johnson and pushed the lead to five after Mack's layup and made free throw twenty seconds later.

Papale cut the early deficit to two (10-8) at 14:30 on the first of his four 3-pointers, but the Scarlet Knights responded with nine straight points en route to a 20-4 run capped by Eli Carter's layup with 7:38 remaining in the first half.

Facing the same 18-point deficit (34-16) two minutes later, the Terriers clawed their way back behind four treys with Irving hitting a running 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded. Despite shooting 6-of-12 at the line and being out-rebounded, 27-16, the resilient BU squad only trailed 42-34 at the half. 

Freshman Nathan Dieudonne brought the Terriers within six by opening the second with a jumper, but Wally Judge would come back with one of his own to push Rutgers' lead back to eight. Carter's short jumper at 14:32 gave the Scarlet Knights their final double-digit lead of the game, 55-45, before Papale hit his fourth and final 3-pointer of the night.

Sophomore James Kennedy fed junior Travis Robinson for a layup that pulled BU within one, 60-59, with 6:59 remaining. Rutgers though went on an 11-4 run with Johnson putting the Scarlet Knights ahead, 71-63, at 3:04 on a contested layup and made free throw following the foul.

The teams went back and forth with Irving hitting two free throws at 2:11 for a 73-68 deficit. He hit two more after Thomas grabbed a rebound for the defensive stop. With one minute remaining and leading by three, Mack drained the clock before driving through the BU defenders for the difficult layup at the 32-second mark.

Irving kept the Terriers' chances of a comeback alive though with an open 3-pointer nine seconds later. Now required to foul, BU sent immediately sent Carter to the line after he received the in-bounds pass.

After he hit both free throw attempts, Papale missed a 3-point attempt on the ensuing possession. However, Watson used his speed to grab the offensive rebound in the corner and set up Irving for another trey to put the deficit at 77-76 with 8.2 seconds left, leading to the dramatic final moments of the game.

BU shot an impressive 54.2 percent in the second half to finish the night 24-of-54 (.444) with 12 of the made field goals coming from behind the arc on 29 attempts. After a slow first half at the line, the Terriers ended up 19-of-26 (.731) while posting 14 assists against just seven turnovers.

Improving to 13-5 in the all-time series in the teams' first meeting since 1972, Rutgers was also strong at the charity stripe in the second half, shooting 15-of-18 to finish 21-of-28 (.750). The Scarlet Knights went 28-of-58 (.483) from the field and recorded a 32-23 advantage in points in the paint. After committing eight turnovers in the first half, they kept the mistakes to a minimum in the second with just two while recording 17 assists in the contest.

Remaining on the road, BU will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 20, at George Mason with tip-off set for 4 p.m.