Jan. 2, 2013
Box Score
ORONO, Maine - With the score tied at halftime, the Boston University men's basketball team shot 52.0 percent from the field in the second stanza but came up just short in the conference opener at Maine, 63-58, on Wednesday night.
The Terriers (6-8, 0-1 AE) finished 24-of-54 (.444) with freshman Maurice Watson Jr. tallying 13 points and a game-high seven assists for America East Player of the Game honors. Junior D.J. Irving added 15 points, while classmate Dom Morris posted a game-high 11 rebounds.
BU held the league-leading scorer Justin Edwards (18.5 ppg) to just 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting, but AE Player of the Game Alasdair Fraser stepped up for the Black Bears (6-8, 1-0 AE) with 17 points, six rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Xavier Pollard recorded 13 points, and Mike Allison hauled in 11 boards to help Maine out-rebound the Terriers, 35-26.
Earning their third straight victory, Maine went on a 6-0 spurt behind two jumpers by Fraser to grab a 59-55 lead with 1:09 remaining. Watson cut the deficit to two (60-58) at the 31-second mark, but the Black Bears hit two free throws and followed with two defensive stops for the win.
The two squads traded blows early on with Allison's free throw giving Maine a 13-12 edge with 12:43 left in the first half. BU followed with a 12-4 run with junior Travis Robinson draining two 3-pointers. Watson's layup gave the Terriers the 24-17 lead at 7:40.
Following a called timeout, Maine quickly cut the deficit to two behind a Fraser jumper and Edwards 3-pointer and later tied the game at 1:41 off a Pollard jumper to head into the locker room with the score, 26-26.
The Terriers only shot 37.9 percent in the first half but recorded 12 points off seven Maine turnovers while committing just four miscues.
BU jumped out of the gate hitting a combined four 3-pointers from Irving, Watson, freshman Nathan Dieudonne and freshman John Papale, to grab its largest lead of the game, 38-29, at 15:47. The Terriers had two possessions to increase it to double digits but missed an open attempt from behind the arc and later saw the ball swiped away by Maine.
The Black Bears came back and tied the game at 42-42 off a layup by Shaun Lawton with 9:59 remaining in regulation. The Terriers took six-point leads at 7:58 (48-42) and 5:42 (53-47), respectively, behind baskets by Watson, but on each ensuing possession, Maine hit the 3-pointer to keep the game close.
After a made free throw from Fraser, Irving hit a jumper at 3:59 to give BU its final lead of the game, 55-53, as the Black Bears scored 10 of the game's final 13 points.
Maine shot 54.2 percent from the field in the second half to finish 24-of-51 (.471) while forcing the Terriers into 13 total turnovers. A key differential came at the free throw line with the Black Bears hitting 11-of-16 (.688) against BU's 3-of-5 performance.
Concluding a three-game road trip away from home, the Terriers will return to Case Gym to host Hartford on Saturday (Jan. 5) with action set to begin at 1 p.m.
