Terriers to Open UCF Tourney with Belmont Friday Night
December 27, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2012
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BOSTON - Visiting the Sunshine State for the first time since 1999, the Boston University men's basketball team will open the University of Central Florida Holiday Tournament against 2012 Atlantic Sun champion Belmont on Friday with action set to begin at 9:30 p.m.
The Terriers (5-6) and Bruins (8-3) will face off after Conference USA's UCF (7-3) and MEAC member Howard play at 7 p.m. BU has never met any of the three squads before and will be seeking its first in-season title since winning the South Florida Christmas Tournament in 1996.
BU has won five of its last six games, a feat last accomplished back at the start of the 2004-05 season. One key reason for the team's recent success has been the improved play on the defensive end. Teams averaged 69.8 ppg in the first five games but since then have been held to 59.5 ppg.
In each of the Terriers' victories, the team recorded at least nine steals. Junior D.J. Irving, junior Travis Robinson and freshman Maurice Watson Jr. all average 1.5 steals per game. Under the basket, junior Dom Morris leads BU in rebounding at 6.5 rpg with sophomore Malik Thomas second at 6.0 rpg.
On the offensive end, BU ranks third in the America East in both scoring (67.5 ppg) and field goal shooting percentage (.432). The Terriers haven't finished a season at 43 percent or above since the 2004-05 season. Morris has led the way shooting 54.0 percent, while Robinson is shooting an impressive 52.1 percent from behind the arc.
Scoring 23 points in last Saturday's victory over Cornell, Irving leads BU in scoring at 15.4 ppg with Morris second at 11.0 ppg. Watson is the third Terrier in double figures at 10.0 ppg while averaging a team-high 4.9 assists per game. BU has distributed the ball effectively, as evidenced by six players averaging 7.5 or more points a game. More importantly, the Terriers own an assist-turnover ratio of 1.0, which is the top mark in the league.
The Terriers will try to reach .500 for the first time this year against a Bruins squad that moved to the Ohio Valley Conference this past summer after reaching the NCAAs five times since 2006. Both teams' offenses rely on the 3-pointer with BU averaging 8.4 made treys per game against Belmont's 8.8 average.
Owning wins over Stanford, Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee State, Belmont is averaging 75.2 ppg while shooting an efficient 47.7 percent from the field. Guard Ian Clark is averaging 17.3 ppg with guard Kerron Johnson and forward Trevor Noack at 13.6 and 12.8 ppg, respectively. Standing 6-foot-7, Noack leads the team in rebounding at 5.8 rpg.
After meeting the Bruins, the Terriers will conclude the tournament on Saturday (Dec. 29) with the third-place game taking place at 5 p.m. and the championship game taking place at 7:30 p.m.
