Instant takeaways from BU men's basketball's 75-71 road victory over UMBC
Miles Brewster (18 points) and Matai Baptiste (13 points) led the Terriers, who nearly blew a double-digit second-half lead but found a way in the final minutes.
Three takeaways from the Boston University men’s basketball team’s 75-71 victory over UMBC in Baltimore on Saturday afternoon…
BU found a way to avoid a perilous 1-5 start
It doesn’t get much worse than the way BU dropped a home contest to Wagner on Tuesday, and all of it occurred a few days after the Terriers had finally gained some momentum in a blowout win over Dartmouth.
On Saturday, BU walked a similar tightrope — blowing a double-digit second-half lead by allowing a 14-0 UMBC run in which the Terriers didn’t score for over six minutes. But on the shoulders of critical buckets from graduate guard Miles Brewster (18 points, 7-of-13 shooting) and sophomore forward Matai Baptiste (13 points, 4-of-5 shooting, three 3s), BU eked out a victory on the road.
BU shot 47 percent from the field and 36 percent from 3. The Terriers committed 18 turnovers, but other than that and the inexplicable scoring drought in the second half, BU’s offense returned to its standard after a rough showing on Tuesday. BU improved to 2-4 on the season, not the start it would’ve hoped for, but it feels a lot better than 1-5.
Matai Baptiste came up huge in the second half.
The 6-foot-7 sophomore forward has struggled to find an offensive groove so far this season, but when BU needed him down the stretch on Saturday, he showed up.
When UMBC cut the lead to four midway through the final frame, he responded with a personal 5-0 run. Then, as BU trailed by 3 with just over three minutes to go, Baptiste canned a deep wing 3-pointer late in the shot clock to tie the game, before working his way to the line on the next possession and making both free throws to give the Terriers the lead.
They didn’t trail again.
BU pushed the pace in the first half, and it worked.
These Terriers have not always looked to play in transition, and even when they have, BU hasn’t been particularly productive in those moments. Through Friday’s games, BU ranked 333rd in the nation in tempo, per KenPom.
Not the case on Saturday, as BU relentlessly pushed the pace off UMBC misses and was productive doing so. The Terriers’ guards were able to attack the paint in transition, leading to a bevy of open 3s.
BU, finally, drained those looks, finishing the first half 7 of 14 from downtown.
After briefly falling behind late in the half, the Terriers erupted on a 15-3 run to finish the frame, powered in large part by its tempo. UMBC couldn’t keep up, and finished the half trailing, 44-34.