{"id":39829,"date":"2023-12-30T19:19:20","date_gmt":"2023-12-31T00:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=39829"},"modified":"2023-12-31T00:19:25","modified_gmt":"2023-12-31T05:19:25","slug":"mens-basketball-bu-blows-out-merrimack-in-final-game-of-non-conference-slate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2023\/12\/30\/mens-basketball-bu-blows-out-merrimack-in-final-game-of-non-conference-slate\/","title":{"rendered":"Men\u2019s Basketball: BU blows out Merrimack in final game of non-conference slate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Featured image by Jacob Ireland<\/em><\/p>\n

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

This is what it\u2019s supposed to look like.<\/span><\/p>\n

16 assists on 28 buckets. Plus-50 percent shooting from the field, plus-40 percent shooting from 3. Five players with at least eight points, three of them in double-digits.<\/span><\/p>\n

This \u2014 a 74-63 win over Merrimack (6-8) on Saturday in the final non-conference game of the season \u2014 is this Boston University men\u2019s basketball team (5-8) at its best.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers led by as many as 29.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just moving the ball,\u201d senior guard Miles Brewster said. \u201cWe just run the play and find the open guy,\u201d sophomore forward Nico Nobili echoed.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it\u2019s working, maybe it really is that simple.<\/span><\/p>\n

BU\u2019s offense is a pass-first, whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts operation. Open shots are created with collective movement. Sharing the ball is a requirement. All five players on the court are involved in every possession.<\/span><\/p>\n

BU entered the game as the only team in the Patriot League without a double-digit scorer, and they want it that way.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Brewster put it: \u201cWe don\u2019t work on iso in practice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But it has been a perilous existence; one that BU has suffered for. The Terriers entered Saturday on a two-game skid with losses at Dartmouth and against UMass Lowell that, on the offensive end, got outright ugly. In BU\u2019s eight losses thus far, they\u2019ve failed to score 60 points in five of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe struggled in the last two games, I thought, of playing with the level of focus and energy we have to play with,\u201d head coach Joe Jones said.<\/span><\/p>\n

For an offense reliant on collective movement like BU\u2019s is, focus and energy is a necessity. When the Terriers bring it, they produce moments like the one that defined the game on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

After playing three scoreless minutes towards the end of the first half, allowing the Warriors to cut what was an 11-point deficit to just 3 points, the Terriers scored 20 unanswered over the next six in-game minutes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BU roared to a 45-22 lead two minutes into the second half. No looking back from there.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur guys were more locked into what we were trying to do,\u201d Jones said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Six different players scored on the 20-0 run.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe work on passing and moving,\u201d Brewster said. \u201cSo it\u2019s really about executing what we do in practice and trusting each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

BU put special trust in its bigs, namely Nobili, to be the linchpin of its pass-first attack. The Terriers made sure to position a post player at the free-throw line, allowing BU to work the ball inside with a quick entry pass instead of asking its guards to beat Merrimack\u2019s perimeter defenders off the dribble.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew where the ball should have went,\u201d Nobili said. \u201cThe open area was mainly the free-throw line, behind their first line of defense.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Merrimack, which plays a small-ball lineup with hyper-aggressive perimeter defenders, was helpless. When BU got the ball to its free-throw line ball-handler behind the Warriors\u2019 high perimeter line, the Terriers attacked the open space behind it with timely cuts from the corners and the wings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey bring their wings up really high, so if you can get it in the middle, you can get some things,\u201d Jones said. \u201cBut you have to cut.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers, energized and focused after two of their toughest losses of the season, made the cuts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From there? \u201cIt was kind of easy,\u201d Nobili said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nobili dished out four assists, added 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting and corralled six rebounds.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where he\u2019s at his best,\u201d Jones said. \u201cHe\u2019s a really good facilitator, he understands the game.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As BU\u2019s primary ball-handling guard, Brewster recorded three assists, profiting off his teammates\u2019 off-ball movement throughout the game. When senior wing Anthony Morales made a piercing baseline cut in behind Merrimack\u2019s defense halfway through the first period, Brewster delivered a perfectly placed lob from the \u2018BU\u2019 logo for a momentum-shifting dunk.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Brewster ➡️ Morales for the ALLEY-OOP DUNK‼️ #GoBU<\/a> #PLTop3<\/a><\/p>\n

Watch on ESPN+: https:\/\/t.co\/EZceO4Gg0C<\/a>@PatriotLeagueTV<\/a> | @ESPN<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Be6PHwtGRZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 BU Men’s Basketball (@TerrierMBB) December 30, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n