Gardner, Terriers Trying to End on Good Note
BOSTON – Dennis Wolff said it was “the type of last game you’d like to have,” and who is Kevin Gardner to argue?
Gardner is putting a close to a solid, unspectacular career at Boston University. He closed out his home slate at Boston University with a career-high 27 points in a win over Stony Brook, a fitting home end to a career that has seen him get better the entire way through, from being a reserve role player to the team’s leading scorer as a senior.
“I think he’s made the biggest freshman-to-senior year improvement of any guy I’ve had,” said Wolff.
Gardner was a key role player for his first three seasons, where the Terriers were a postseason team each time out. On teams that had scorers, Gardner’s role was to defend and rebound, especially in physical games, and he did just that. He’s had a steady rise in minutes, from 7.4 per game as a freshman to 16.2 as a sophomore and 24.8 last year and 31 this year. Entering the season with career averages of 4.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, not many figured he would be a sure candidate to lead this team in scoring.
But here is Gardner finishing his senior year as the Terriers’ leading scorer (13.5 points) and rebounder (7.5) in the regular season, and also topping the team in blocked shots and field goal percentage. He’s been the go-to guy on an inexperienced team that doesn’t have a true go-to guy – instead, they have several – and he’s been one of the steadying influences on the young Terriers. It hasn’t been easy, either – he’s missed a game due to an injury and has played hurt at other times, but it’s all part of his identity – a hard worker who just keeps getting better.
“The season has been rough,” said Gardner, who added that the game prior to the Stony Brook win, a 74-51 thumping they suffered at Binghamton, was the season’s low point. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, probably more downs than ups.”
The Terriers have had plenty of ups lately, as they finished the regular season with three straight wins to finish in third place in America East. As the conference tournament is about to start, the Terriers are playing well at the right time, and they have as good a chance as anyone to come away with the championship and the NCAA Tournament bid that comes with it. It would certainly be a fitting end to the season.
Wolff said after the first couple of weeks of practice that Gardner was hardly a given to be a starter, even though most would figure he was a sure bet given the inexperience around him. Given the senior year he’s had, it’s safe to say that he answered the bell from that point on, and on many occasions during the season.
Gardner grew up in Palos Verdes, not far from Los Angeles, and describes his college experience in Boston as “completely different” from where he grew up. He chose the school over Denver, Tulane and one school in California, St. Mary’s. He’s enjoyed his years, from the winning each of his first three seasons to this year’s struggles that he’s been a leader of along with classmate Shaun Wynn.
His father was able to be at Senior Day, and he had a number of family and friends who saw him when the Terriers were in the Cable Car Classic in Santa Clara during the holidays. He had a tough game against Bucknell, fouling out in just 25 minutes with them watching, but rebounded the next night to score 19 points and grab 7 rebounds to lead them to a win over UC Riverside.
Along with Wynn, Gardner never put up big numbers, but he’s been every bit a key to the Terriers over his career. He will top 700 points and has over 500 rebounds, but it’s not his numbers that have made him what he is. There are many fine players in college basketball like Kevin Gardner and Shaun Wynn – players who don’t get much attention, who don’t put up big numbers, but play the game in a way that observers can appreciate.
For his part, Wynn remembered the best of times during the week of practice leading up to Senior Day.
“I was looking around, looking at the banners, and I got a little emotional,” Wynn reflected. “Then reality hit that it was my last game at The Roof. Every play, in the back of my mind, I was like, go all out, do what you’ve got to do.”
Wynn did just that, as he’s done for all of his four years at the school. Gardner did the same thing, and they both closed out their home slate on a good note. Most importantly, they closed out by playing the kind of game they’ve been known for – and getting a win in the process.
