CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – For years, you could bank on one thing about Boston University: they would be a defensive-oriented team. That was the identity of this team from Dennis Wolff’s days, continuing on with Pat Chambers and last year as Joe Jones took over. This season, that doesn’t appear to be the case at first glance, although for a while on Tuesday the Terriers looked like they were ready to turn a corner before the second half of their 65-64 loss at Harvard. In the end, though, a familiar item came back to haunt them: an inability to get a stop when they need it most.
“We’ve lost three games now at the buzzer,” said Jones after a short jumper by Harvard’s Siyani Chambers with four seconds left gave Harvard the victory. “We just haven’t been able to get the last stop of the game. It’s been unfortunate.”
Boston University held Harvard to 33.3 percent shooting in the first half and had solid bookends, starting and ending well. In addition, Harvard missed all eight of their three-point shots in the opening frame. It was the kind of half they needed. The second half was another story, as Harvard shot nearly 64 percent from the field, including 7-9 from long range. The Crimson made their first five shots from deep in the second half, which helped them rally from an eight-point deficit three minutes into the second half.
This team doesn’t have a lot of size, but the Terriers aren’t getting killed on the backboards as one might expect. In fact, they out-rebounded Harvard on Tuesday, and Harvard came into the game out-rebounding opponents by nearly four per game. It helps that Dom Morris, who for a lot of his first two years on Commonwealth Ave looked like he might have underachiever written all over him, has emerged. Morris had a double-double on Tuesday night with 15 points and 12 rebounds, and leads the team in rebounding while being second in scoring.
The Terriers are small on the perimeter with two sub-six foot guards, but they are finding ways to manage with D.J. Irving and Maurice Watson, Jr. playing together. On Tuesday night, the advantages were often visible, as Watson showed his quickness and speed with the ball while Irving played off him well en route to 24 points on 8-17 shooting, including 4-7 from long range. They can also wreak havoc defensively at times, and Harvard’s starting perimeter players had eight turnovers on Tuesday night.
“I think there are a lot of people out there in the country that would like to have basically two point guards,” said Jones. “We come up with three stops late this year, we’re having a great year.”
What has been a problem, Jones said, is wearing down in the second half. Only twice all season have they held a team below 40 percent from the field in the second half; Harvard was the fourth team to shoot better than 50 percent.
“We tend to wear a little bit in the second half,” said the BU mentor. “Fatigue sets in a little bit in the second half of games at times. It’ something we’ve just got to get better at.”
Boston University rebounded from a tough 0-5 start that included a season-opening loss right before the buzzer to cross-town rival Northeastern and another at George Mason. They had won three in a row and looked like they might make it four. This one stings, as it’s a game they should have had.
“They’re hurting,” said Jones. “They played hard, they put themselves in a position to win, and now we’ve got to come up with the last play. We just haven’t been able to do it.”
Jones said the Terriers want the game to be at least in the 70s. They average about 67 points per game right now and have out-scored their opponents on the season, owing in part to the close losses. Playing at a high speed requires defensive stops, including forcing turnovers, and the Terriers haven’t done enough. They force nearly 15 turnovers per game, but opponents are shooting over 45 percent from the field against them, so they’re not getting enough stops they can turn into running opportunities. With Watson and Irving, they could run often in theory.
As if that doesn’t sting enough from Tuesday night, the Terriers were at least doing a good job of guarding the three-point line coming into the game. They had allowed opponents to shoot just over 29 percent from long range before Harvard went 7-17 on Tuesday.
Boston University has played just two home games thus far, but that will change before long. They have two in a row before Christmas, then early in January have three in a row early in America East play. That will give them a chance to start conference play with some momentum, and that could come more easily with a few more defensive stops.
