{"id":35261,"date":"2022-12-03T14:22:12","date_gmt":"2022-12-03T19:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=35261"},"modified":"2022-12-03T14:23:24","modified_gmt":"2022-12-03T19:23:24","slug":"mens-basketball-terriers-win-fifth-game-behind-dominant-second-half-at-merrimack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2022\/12\/03\/mens-basketball-terriers-win-fifth-game-behind-dominant-second-half-at-merrimack\/","title":{"rendered":"Men\u2019s Basketball: Terriers win fifth game behind dominant second half at Merrimack"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sam Robb O\u2019Hagan<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Mid-way through the second half at Lawler Arena in North Andover, BU senior guard Ethan Brittain-Watts drained a corner three to give the Terriers an eight-point lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

A blown kiss to home fans in the front row followed.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was no looking back for Boston University Men\u2019s Basketball (5-4), who silenced an energetic Merrimack Warriors (1-8) crowd with a 22-5 run in the second half to win their fifth game of the season 68-54.<\/span><\/p>\n

After three straight losses at the Cream City Classic in Milwaukee over the weekend, the Terriers finally found their stroke from beyond the arc, making eight 3-pointers from 17 attempts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just getting back to playing the way we know we can play,\u201d BU Assistant Coach Curtis Wilson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough sledding out there [in Milwaukee], it was just nice to get back,\u201d Wilson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t a cakewalk for Wilson\u2019s team. An invigorated Merrimack, in their first home game against a Division I opponent of the season, held serve with the Terriers throughout the first half.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a 9-0 Warrior run that started in the last minute of the first half, the game was tied 38-38 with 16 minutes to play.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then BU put their foot on the gas. An immediate floater from graduate guard Fletcher Tynen followed, and a few possessions later, a three from graduate wing Walter Whyte, his second made-three in 22 attempts over the last four games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Minutes after that, Brittain-Watts blew the good-bye kiss.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt does kind of wear on you a little bit, especially shots that you practice every day and you make for the most part,\u201d Wilson said of his team\u2019s recent shooting struggles.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see the ball go through the net, it really helps you mentally in a lot of ways,\u201d Wilson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers shot 50% from the field and 47.1% from three after an ice-cold stretch in Milwaukee, which Wilson credits to his team\u2019s ability to get into the paint.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cInside out. We wanted to play inside out,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cWe just felt like if we can get the ball in [the paint], then we can do some damage.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Graduate guard Jonas Harper led the way with 15 points, including 3-pointers on three straight possessions late in the second half to extend the Terrier lead to 19 with just over four minutes left.<\/span><\/p>\n

Britain-Watts provided 12 points off the bench on 5-for-6 shooting as junior guard Damon Tate started for the first time this season, contributing eight points and making two 3-pointers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whyte, after his first slump of the season culminated in a 4-for-17 shooting performance against UC Davis on Monday in Milwaukee, responded with a double-double, scoring 12 and hauling in 10 rebounds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Head Coach Joe Jones was \u201cunder the weather\u201d and missed the game, but his condition is not COVID-related, according to sports information director Scott Ellis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what we\u2019re supposed to do, we\u2019re basically just an extension of him,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cCoach Jones is our leader and he gives us confidence throughout the whole year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With three graduates and five seniors on the roster, Wilson acknowledged the experience of his team as an important aid in these types of situations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defensively, the Terriers forced 15 turnovers, highlighted by three straight steals in the closing minutes of the first half, including two from Harper, that were finished with a 3-point play to cap a 10-0 run.<\/span><\/p>\n

Merrimack senior forward Jordan Minor finished with 21 points as the Warriors shot just 40% from the field and 19% from three.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Wilson left plenty of room for defensive improvement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we allowed them to play a little bit too much 1-on-1, and we didn\u2019t do a great job of helping each other early in those situations,\u201d Wilson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have some pretty talented guys out there, especially Minor inside. If there was one thing I thought tonight we needed to do a better job of that was it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And there\u2019s certainly more than one thing the Terriers can improve on: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll areas,\u201d Wilson said without hesitation.<\/span><\/p>\n

BU will have a chance to build off their critical, yet imperfect, rebound win as they travel to South Bend for a showdown with Notre Dame on Wednesday at 7 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sam Robb O\u2019Hagan Mid-way through the second half at Lawler Arena in North Andover, BU senior guard Ethan Brittain-Watts drained a corner three to give the Terriers an eight-point lead. A blown kiss to home fans in the front row followed. There was no looking back for Boston University Men\u2019s Basketball (5-4), who silenced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21477,"featured_media":35263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1026,1027,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35261"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21477"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35261"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35265,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35261\/revisions\/35265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}