{"id":40629,"date":"2024-03-03T10:57:47","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T15:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=40629"},"modified":"2024-03-03T10:57:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T15:57:47","slug":"super-seniors-after-leading-bu-mens-basketball-to-fifth-straight-win-anthony-morales-and-miles-brewster-are-ready-to-have-their-moment-in-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2024\/03\/03\/super-seniors-after-leading-bu-mens-basketball-to-fifth-straight-win-anthony-morales-and-miles-brewster-are-ready-to-have-their-moment-in-march\/","title":{"rendered":"SUPER SENIORS: After leading BU Men’s Basketball to fifth-straight win, Anthony Morales and Miles Brewster are ready to have their moment in March"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

BOSTON \u2014 There were flowers, there were tears. There was a career milestone. There was an offensive explosion in the first half, there was a near-crisis in the second. There was Domino\u2019s Pizza. But in the end, there was Anthony Morales and Miles Brewster, doing what they do best on their big day \u2014 keeping this beautiful disaster chugging right along.<\/span><\/p>\n

The big play: A steal from Morales that he tipped in the air three times as he stumbled down the court before flipping a pass to a streaking Brewster, who himself bobbled it thrice before finally, at the last second, gathering it and finishing with a backhanded layup. BU took an 83-69 lead with under five minutes to play. A senior day dagger. The Terrier Way.<\/span><\/p>\n

And breathe.<\/span><\/p>\n

How\u2019s that for a metaphor? In the final ride of a roller-coaster regular season like no other, it was BU\u2019s two seniors who once again stayed composed through all of the stumbling and fumbling to guide the Terriers across the finish line. Morales finished with 20 points, Brewster with 17, to not only lead BU to its fifth-straight victory, but to the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Patriot League tournament.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BU will skip the first round. It will host the quarterfinal. It will host the semifinal. And, after so very nearly crashing so many different times, BU will be three wins away from the dance.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s March, and the Terriers are fully dreaming now.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe sky\u2019s the limit,\u201d senior guard Brewster said.<\/span><\/p>\n

No, BU\u2019s 94-84 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday at Case Gym was not perfect. But what has been? The Terriers are not here, at 15-16 overall and 10-8 in the Patriot League, because they\u2019re \u201cgood enough that we can just roll people,\u201d head coach Joe Jones said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They are here because they are calm. Resilient. And mighty tough.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019re one of the toughest teams in the league,\u201d senior wing Morales said.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s nearly impossible to argue with him. A brief recap:<\/span><\/p>\n

BU finished the non-conference slate 5-8. It started Patriot League play 2-3, and in those first five games, the Terriers were dead last in basically every offensive category. It was so bad that, after a practice this week, junior guard Ethan Okwuosa mistakenly recalled BU going winless in those games. The Terriers eventually fell to 2-5. Then they won. Then lost. Then won, then lost. Then won again. Then lost again; before, all of a sudden, exploding on a five-game win streak \u2014 one that included, but was not limited to: a halfcourt buzzer-beater, two game-saving chasedown blocks, another buzzer-beater, BU\u2019s first consecutive overtime victories in 15 years, and this win over Holy Cross, in which the Terriers very nearly blew a 17-point halftime lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

But here they are. The 2-seed. Three games away from winning the whole damn thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

How have they done it? \u201cThe biggest thing,\u201d Brewster said, \u201cis that the guys have the right mindset.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For that, BU can thank Morales and Brewster. The Terriers roster eight Division I rookies, four of them freshmen. This group was not supposed to be this composed this quickly. They were not supposed to be winning because of their attitude. They were not supposed to be wise beyond their years.<\/span><\/p>\n

But they are. And ask anyone around here \u2014 it\u2019s because of Morales and Brewster.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith Miles, it\u2019s the way he\u2019s been allowing me to hold him accountable,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAnd having that, it keeps everyone else in line.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Seriously. Where would BU be without him? Don\u2019t think the Terriers didn\u2019t encounter their fair share of tough love while in the valleys of this roller-coaster year. There were points this season when, simply, the team wasn\u2019t very good. In the moments when the finger was pointed at this group, it was pointed at Brewster, the team\u2019s leader and top scorer, first.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He has responded time and time again. And his younger teammates have followed right along.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never had a kid that I could really go at the way I go at him and not have it affect the way he plays,\u201d Jones said. He explained that watching Brewster take Jones\u2019 heat showed the rest of the team how to take it, too. \u201cSometimes,\u201d Jones said, \u201cit\u2019s got to be said in a real forceful way to get them freakin\u2019 ready to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Miles allows you to do that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As for Morales \u2014 all he has known this year is adversity. He didn\u2019t play the first month of the season with a knee injury. He returned, carried BU to a dramatic win over Loyola Maryland in January, only to go right back down with a back injury. \u201cFinally got my footing back,\u201d Morales said. \u201cThen I got hurt again.\u201d That\u2019s not all. A natural scorer, Morales\u2019 role has been reduced to papering over the cracks, filling in where needed instead of being a go-to offensive option with a set role. He didn\u2019t start a game until Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

What an impact he has found a way to have. Those two game-saving chasedown blocks? Both from Morales.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing whatever we need him to do to win,\u201d Jones said.<\/span><\/p>\n

No team has needed a senior day more. A chance to acknowledge, out in the open, for everyone to see, just how much Morales and Brewster have meant. \u201cI was really happy for them,\u201d Jones said. During the pre-game ceremony, Brewster cried. During the warmups that followed, he cried some more. When he gathered himself, it was Morales\u2019 turn to hear his name announced in the starting five for the very first time. Saturday was their moment. The two leaders of this bizarre, impossible team. The two seniors guiding the sudden contender that shouldn\u2019t be.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a special moment, for sure,\u201d Morales said. \u201cMeant a lot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Said Brewster: \u201cI mean, I cried. So whatever that means, right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

They have waited so patiently for this. The pair arrived in the summer of 2020, just a few months after BU won its first Patriot League Championship. That team, like this one, was young. Ahead of schedule. Javante McCoy, a future NBA G-Leaguer, Sukhmail Maton, a future conference Player of the Year, and Walter Whyte, a 1,000-point scorer, stayed around. Morales and Brewster, stuck in those shadows, did not play early on. When they did as juniors, they came off the bench.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to take a trip down memory lane,\u201d Morales said after a 26-minute outing on his senior day. \u201cYou know, I\u2019m old.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Miles, our freshman year\u2026 it would be late night, we just had a game and we didn\u2019t play that much or whatever, and we were like \u2018yo, when we\u2019re older, we gon\u2019 do it. We gonna get there.\u2019 We manifested it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Their moment has arrived. They are each playing the best basketball of their lives. They haven\u2019t lost in over two weeks. And they are playing for BU \u2014 leading for BU \u2014 as the calendar has turned to March.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anthony Morales, Miles Brewster, and BU men\u2019s basketball, legitimately, have a chance to make it to the NCAA Tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s everything, bro,\u201d Brewster said. \u201cThat\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever wanted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sam Robb O\u2019Hagan BOSTON \u2014 There were flowers, there were tears. There was a career milestone. There was an offensive explosion in the first half, there was a near-crisis in the second. There was Domino\u2019s Pizza. But in the end, there was Anthony Morales and Miles Brewster, doing what they do best on their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21477,"featured_media":40517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1026,1027,19],"tags":[1129,1131,69,1145,1149,1902],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40629"}],"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=40629"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40631,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40629\/revisions\/40631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}