Men’s Basketball: BU Gets Back in the Win Column vs. UMBC

Featured image by Elyse Paugh

By Kaan Oguz

Boston University Men’s Basketball (2-4, 0-0 PL) faced off against UMBC Retrievers (3-4, 0-0 AE) and secured their first away win of the season with the score 75-71 where they played one of their best games of the season. 

“I like the fact that we came in and played with confidence,” said Head Coach Joe Jones. “I thought that was a step in the right direction.”

Except for the sequence from 5:17 to 3:02 in the second half, the Terriers never gave up the lead in the score and were always in control of the game. After coming from a heartbreaking defeat against Wagner where they were also in the lead for 37 minutes and lost afterwards, they managed to stay calm at the period where they lost the lead after 20 minutes.

UMBC Retrievers got their third loss in a row and their record became 3-4, after a phenomenal 3-1 start where all their victories were by +25 margin. Even though this game was the game in which they scored the most in their three-game losing streak, it was not enough to take the win at their home against the Terriers.

The beginning of the game was balanced where there were often lead changes and teams trying to find their rhythm. The Terriers were the slightly better team due to their shooting percentages.

Before this game Terriers were shooting with 30.7% behind the arc which was one of the biggest problems in their offense. In the first half they made 7 3-point shots in 14 attempts. Their 50% 3-point shooting percentage was important to maintain the flow in their half-court offense.

The most critical part of the game was the end of the first half. With 3.18 left in the first half, Terriers were 2 points behind, 29-31, in a half where the margin was steady. After that, a 15-3 run in the last three minutes gave the Terriers the first double-digit differential of the game before going to the locker room. Micheal McNair and Azmar Abdullah made the difference with their effective plays in that sequence.

The start of the second half was similar to the beginning of the first half. Teams were attacking each other, but the lead the Terriers had gained in the end of the first half was not closing much. Miles Brewster, who is also the man of the match, was the leading player in offense in the second half.

Retrievers were always in the following distance in the second half; however, their poor shooting was not giving any hope that they could comeback in the end. Things did not go in that way, though. After Coach Jim Ferry called for a timeout at 10:19, the Terriers were leading the game with the score 62-51. 

After the timeout Retrievers increased their aggression in defense where they managed to decrease the volume of open shots Terriers found until that point of the game. On the offense, they started to drive to the rim more than they did because they were aware that their three-point shooting would not give them the win. On offense their efficiency did not change drastically, but with their increased energy and aggressiveness they thrived to put the Terriers’ offense into crisis.

“I think we got stagnant, sometimes we tend to stand and watch too much, and we weren’t getting into actions,” said Jones. “When  our bigs stay low, and we can’t get them the ball, then our offense gets stagnant.”

The scoring drought of the Terriers which started at 10:20 lasted almost seven minutes and ended with the three-point jumper of Matai Baptiste at 3.25. Retrievers punished this drought with a 14-0 run in this interval where they took the lead for the first time in the second half.

After this run from the Retrievers, the question marks appeared again due to the experience of the previous game that hasn’t completely subsided. This time, Terriers managed to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They didn’t panic, played with their exact same plan and took the lead back in two minutes. 

After Terriers took the lead back, everything was back to its standards. They did not make any critical mistake that would put the victory in trouble. They got their first victory away with a game which they can build on. Miles Brewster was the man of the match in Boston University with 18 points and six rebounds. 

“[Miles] took to the basket, and he did a really good job of running the show for us,” said Jones. “He only had one turnover in 25 minutes, that’s big time for us.”

On the other side Retrievers forward Josh Odunowo dominated the sequence where Retrievers’ giant comeback happened and performed a great game. He put up a line with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists. Bryce Johnson shared the scoring volume with Oduowo and ended the game with 18 points.

The Terriers will play back-to-back games this weekend and face Howard Bison Nov. 24th at 12 p.m. with streaming available on ESPN+.