At a rocking Case Gym, BU men's basketball puts on a show against Holy Cross
The Terriers roared out to an early lead and held on from there, powered by a slew of dunks in front of a raucous crowd.
BOSTON — Caleb Kenney lost the handle and Nico Nobili grabbed the loose ball. Nobili took one dribble and threw the ball ahead to the only man between him and the basket, Mike McNair. The sophomore guard took two steps and unleashed a one-handed poster jam over the trailing 6-foot-6 Kenney.
McNair put his hands on his head, almost as if he shocked himself, and pointed at the Patriot League’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year as he trotted back down the floor.
Roars supplied by BU students on Club Sports Night echoed through Case Gym. McNair’s slam punctuated a 12-0 run, giving the Boston University men’s basketball team an early 14-3 lead.
“I ain’t know he was gonna go up and dunk it,” said senior forward Malcolm Chimezie. “It kind of surprised me, but I know he’s capable of it, and it was just great to see.”
The Terriers never trailed after that buzzing start, defeating Holy Cross, 69-59, on Monday night for their seventh straight home victory.
“It’s always fun playing in front of a big crowd,” Chimezie said. “We try to bring energy every day, but I’d be lying if I said, like, seeing many more people doesn’t give you an extra boost.”
BU (11-11, 5-4 PL) electrified the crowd early, starting 10 for 15 from the field and building a lead as large as 13 points within 10 minutes.
The Terriers were swinging the ball on offense, forcing turnovers on defense and simply could not miss.
“I’m looking forward to watching the first eight minutes,” head coach Joe Jones said. “That’s always fun when I’m home and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I feel good.’”
BU scored on seven consecutive trips. Its first 14 points, capped by McNair’s dunk, came in the paint. Then freshman guard Azmar Abdullah nailed a contested stepback 3. Graduate guard Miles Brewster followed with a fadeaway turnaround jumper.
On the seventh possession, sophomore guard Kyrone Alexander collected a deflected pass well beyond the arc with just six seconds left on the shot clock. He sized up his defender and drove downhill before stepping back for a deep midrange jumper as the shot clock buzzer sounded.
Alexander netted a game-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
“A lot of pro moves tonight from Kyrone,” said Chimezie. “That’s regular stuff though. You know, he’s a pro.”
After Alexander’s jumper, however, the Terriers went ice cold. BU made just 4 of its last 16 shots of the half. Holy Cross took advantage, surging on a 14-2 run to tie the contest at 24 with four minutes left in the frame.
“The second half of the first half, when we got the lead, we kind of got away from our game and didn’t execute, and didn’t take shots when we were open,” Jones said. “We just didn’t play with a good rhythm.”
BU closed the half on a 5-0 run and led 31-26 at the break.
After halftime, it was the Chimezie show. The 6-foot-8, 220-pounder, who was scoreless at halftime, notched his first-career double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He grabbed six offensive rebounds, which he turned into six second-chance points.
“I’m obviously not the tallest player at my size, and I do want to play after [college]. So I know that every night my shot might not fall, but if I can be consistent on the glass, I’ll be able to get paid,” said Chimezie. “I’m just trying to be consistent with that every night.”
“Let’s be honest. He was just more powerful,” Alexander said. “More powerful, more strength, more grit.”
BU snagged 17 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Holy Cross, 42-29.
“That was the big difference in the game,” Jones said. “Malcolm was unbelievable on the glass.”
The Terriers shot just 4 for 23 from deep but scored 16 second-chance points and took six more shots than the Crusaders — a mark that was hovering around 12 before Holy Cross began fouling late in the contest.
“We were 17 percent from 3 and won the game,” said Jones. “When you do that and you still win by double figures, you got a pretty good team.”
Two second-chance baskets from Chimezie stretched BU’s lead to nine, but Holy Cross responded with an 8-0 run capped by a sidestep 3 from freshman guard Max Green with 15 minutes to play.
BU answered back with a 16-1 run to take a commanding 51-35 lead with under eight minutes remaining. Holy Cross was held without a field goal over seven minutes.
The Terrier defense led to offense. Up by three, Nobili pinned a shot off the glass on one end. On the other, he snared Alexander’s missed corner 3 for a putback slam.
Moments later, Brewster snuck up behind Holy Cross’ Aidan Richard for a steal, raced up the floor and finished with a right-hand dunk.
BU also added a collection of offensive rebounds during the run to create separation.
“We were able to impose our will on the backboard offensively. And I thought that really triggered the run,” Jones said.
BU held Holy Cross, which entered scoring 70.1 points a night on 38.8-percent shooting from deep — third and second best in the Patriot League — to just 59 points on 6 of 20 from 3.
“We were very good defensively,” said Jones. “The big thing was, could we guard the three-point line? And we did a really good job of that.”
For the Terriers, it feels like wins at home are inevitable. Seven straight and a perfect 5-0 mark in conference play.
But BU has yet to win on the road in Patriot League play. Chimezie hopes that Monday’s win will help build toward earning that elusive road victory at Loyola Maryland (8-11, 3-5 PL) on Saturday.
“You always want to defend your home turf, so just to continue winning at home will give us continued confidence that we can win anywhere,” Chimezie said. “Hopefully we can take this momentum into the road going into Loyola next week.”
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