Instant takeaways from BU men's basketball's 69-59 win over Holy Cross
The Terriers jumped out to an early lead, then suffocated one of the Patriot League's best offenses to hang on for a seventh consecutive home win.
BOSTON — The Boston University men’s basketball team took the lead early and never gave it up.
In front of a packed Case Gym crowd for Club Sports Spirit Night on Monday, the Terriers erupted early and then relied on their defense to come away with a 69-59 victory over Holy Cross (11-11, 3-6 Patriot League).
BU (11-11, 5-4 PL) notched its seventh straight home win.
Here are three takeaways from the victory…
BU’s defense was excellent against one of the Patriot League’s best offenses.
Holy Cross entered Monday’s bout scoring 70.1 points per game in conference play (third in the Patriot League). It was also second in field goal (.472) and three-point percentage (.388).
That potent Crusader offense never got going against BU. The Terriers held Holy Cross to 59 points on 24-of-54 shooting.
Holy Cross freshman guard Max Green, who has won PL Rookie of the Week seven times, drilled a 3 on the right wing with 15:03 remaining. It cut BU’s lead to one, 35-34. Seven minutes elapsed before the Crusaders made another field goal. By that point, the Terriers had built up a 16-point lead.
The aforementioned Green, Holy Cross’ leading scorer, was held to just eight points on 2-of-8 shooting. He also had four turnovers. Graduate guard Miles Brewster (two steals) followed him all over the floor, disrupting any offensive rhythm.
BU’s offense was inconsistent, as it has been for much of conference play.
By the numbers, BU has the Patriot League’s worst offense. There is no disputing that. During conference play, BU ranks last in points per game, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, turnovers and assist-to-turnover ratio. However, the Terriers were facing the conference’s worst defense — Holy Cross allows a conference-high 73.6 points per game.
BU was on fire to begin the contest, scoring 22 points in the first 10 minutes. The Terriers, however, went cold offensively the rest of the way.
The Terriers were drawn to the long ball but shot just 4 of 23 from 3-point range.
With its lead cut to just four late in the first half, BU missed three 3s on a single trip.
The Terriers launched multiple airballs, and a bad misfire by Brewster with under a minute to go in the first half elicited a “WHY? WHY?” from head coach Joe Jones that echoed over a packed Case Gym.
BU, led by Malcolm Chimezie, was dominant on the offensive glass.
The Terriers couldn’t knock down 3s, but dominance on the offensive glass helped to offset the misfires.
BU snagged 17 offensive rebounds, took 6 more shots than the Crusaders and had 16 second-chance points. Senior forward Malcolm Chimezie was at the forefront, corralling six offensive rebounds.
Chimezie, who notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, was a monster down low. The Terriers ran their offense through him to begin the second half and he made the most of his second-chance opportunities. He accounted for six of BU’s second-chance points.