Feb. 9, 2013
Box Score
VESTAL, N.Y. - Junior guard D.J. Irving tallied a career-high 27 points and freshman guard Maurice Watson Jr. dished out a season-high 13 assists to lead the Boston University men's basketball team to a 79-58 victory at Binghamton. Earning their fifth win in six games, the Terriers improve to 13-11 and 7-4 in conference play.
Named America East Player of the Game, Irving shot 10-of-18 from the field and finished with a career-high seven 3-pointers, one shy of the school record set by Carlos Strong ('10) in 2007 against Binghamton. Finishing with the most assists by a Terrier in over 15 years with Mark Michalek ('02) tallying 12 in 2000, Watson was four points shy of a double-double, while junior Dom Morris had 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Freshman John Papale added 12 points off four treys, as BU went 32-of-67 (.478) on the night.
Binghamton (3-21, 1-10 AE) was held to 30.4 percent shooting with AE Player of the Game Jordan Reed recording 17 points on 4-of-20 shooting and a 9-of-9 performance at the line. He added a game-high 11 rebounds for the double-double. Javon Ralling was the other Bearcat in double figures with 10 points.
Adding six rebounds, five assists and three steals, Irving was on fire to start the game, hitting BU's first six field goals with the last one coming at 14:22 to give the Terriers the 18-6 advantage. The Bearcats pulled within seven (31-24) at 4:41 off a Jimmy Gray 3-pointer, but BU reeled off eight straight points behind back-to-back Papale treys to put the lead at double-digits for good.
The Terriers went into the locker room with a 42-28 advantage after Irving hit his sixth 3-pointer of the half for 22 points. He shot 8-of-11 from the field, including 6-of-8 from behind the arc, while Watson had nine assists.
Morris picked up the slack to start the second half, scoring 11 of BU's first 13 points with his dunk at 13:07 pushing the Terriers ahead, 57-36. Irving's layup three minutes later gave BU its largest lead of the game at 23 (61-38). He hit his seventh and final 3-pointer with 6:47 remaining.
To the delight of his teammates, senior Jamaal Gill hit his first career basket as a Terrier off a layup in the final minute, as BU earned its fourth 20+ point victory of the season and improved to 20-5 all-time against the Bearcats with its eighth straight win.
The Terriers won the battle at the boards, 43-35, and finished with a 34-18 advantage in points in the paint. They also had a season-high 19 assists against 13 turnovers, while Binghamton recorded just three assists with 15 turnovers.
Looking for its second sweep of Vermont in three years, BU will next visit the defending conference champion Catamounts on Tuesday (Feb. 12) with tip-off set for 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
