Feb. 28, 2014
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BOSTON - Concluding its first regular season as a member of the Patriot League, the Boston University men's basketball team will visit Holy Cross on Saturday with action slated to begin at 2 p.m. The contest carries Patriot League tournament implications for the Terriers (21-9, 14-3 PL), who need a win against the Crusaders (18-11, 12-5 PL) or an American (13-4 PL) loss to Bucknell to claim the top seed.
This past Wednesday, BU staged its largest come-from-behind victory of the season to edge Army, 71-70. The Terriers trailed by as many as 11 in the second half and used five 3-pointers from sophomore John Papale to claim the victory.
The win marked BU's third one-point victory of the season and helped the Terriers improve to 7-1 on the season in games decided by three points or less after they went 0-5 a year earlier. Sophomore Maurice Watson Jr. finished second on the team behind Papale's 19 points with 16 and added six assists to become just the third in Patriot League history to reach 200 assists in a season.
Watson (12.6 ppg) is one of four Terriers to average double figures during conference play to help BU claim at least a share of its first regular season title since 2004. One point shy of a double-double at Army, senior D.J. Irving is second at 11.8 ppg, while Papale is shooting an impressive 55.6 percent, including 53.3 percent from behind the arc, to average 11.4 ppg.
Senior Dom Morris is the fourth at 10.1 ppg while averaging a team-high 6.0 rpg. He just needs to haul in five more rebounds to tie former America East Player of the Year John Holland ('11) for sixth-place all-time in the BU record book at 725 total rebounds. Junior Nathan Dieudonne (5.5 rpg) and junior Malik Thomas (4.9 rpg) have also been key under the basket in helping the Terriers post a positive rebound margin of 1.0 against conference opponents.
BU is averaging 7.2 steals per game in league play with Watson averaging 2.2 swipes. He has 64 total, which is tied for second most ever in a season at BU. In the first meeting against the Crusaders, the Terriers converted 19 turnovers into 18 points for the 70-60 victory.
Since that loss, Holy Cross has gone 12-3 with two defeats to American and a 76-64 loss to Lafayette. The Crusaders swept both Lehigh and Bucknell teams that earned splits against the Terriers. They only feature two men in double figures but have six total averaging more than eight points per game.
Dave Dudzinski averages a team-high 15.1 ppg and 7.6 rpg, while Malcolm Miller is second in both categories at 10.7 ppg and 5.4 rpg. The Crusaders rank seventh in the conference shooting 43.3 percent from the field but average more than 22 trips a game to the charity stripe and shoot 73.4 percent at the line. They have a positive rebound margin of 2.2 and turnover margin of 0.3 to clinch the No. 3 seed for the upcoming Patriot League tournament.
Holy Cross owns a 53-13 all-time advantage against BU in a series dating back to 1903-04. The Terriers last visited the Hart Center in 2007-08 and Worcester, Mass., as a fellow conference member in 1983 when both squads were members of the ECAC North (now known as the America East).
Following the game, BU will return to Agganis Arena and host an opponent to be determined on Wednesday, March 5, in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
