Instant takeaways from BU men's basketball's comeback 59-56 win at Maine
Down by seven with two minutes remaining, the Terriers closed the contest on a 10-0 run to finish the non-conference slate on a high note.
The Boston University men’s basketball team trailed for over 33 minutes and Maine led by seven with two minutes to play on Sunday afternoon..
In the opening 20 minutes, BU had its lowest-scoring first half of the season.
But the Terriers capped the contest on a 10-0 run to walk out of Memorial Gym in Orono, Maine with an improbable 59-56 victory.
Here are three takeaways from the road win:
BU executed flawlessly in the final two minutes to earn the victory
After trailing for close to the entirety of the contest, BU took the lead, 47-46 with 5:36 remaining.
Maine responded with a 10-2 run to take a 56-49 lead with two minutes to go. It looked like that might be it, and BU would fail to complete the comeback.
The Terriers, however, executed flawlessly in the final two minutes to pull out a crucial road victory to end the non-conference slate.
Sophomore guard Kyrone Alexander (13 points) nailed a 3 to cut the deficit to four. BU then forced a stop as graduate guard Kellen Tynes (17 points) missed a jumper. The Terriers then ran in transition, finding sophomore guard Michael McNair (team-high 16 points) open for a corner 3 in front of the BU bench.
Trailing by one, freshman guard Azmar Abdullah fouled Tynes on a non-shooting foul. But with the Black Bears (8-7) in the bonus, Tynes went to the line for a one-and-one. He missed the front end, and senior forward Malcolm Chimezie hauled in the rebound with 35 seconds to go.
BU went right to Chimezie (8 points) on the other end, who backed his way down and finished over the top with a left-handed layup.
The Terriers got another stop, with McNair forcing Christopher Mantis (12 points) into a contested, missed midrange jumper with 3.7 seconds remaining.
Senior guard Ben Palacios made two free throws to give BU a 59-56 lead, and McNair capped off the victory by stealing Mantis's Hail Mary inbounds pass.
“Really proud of our effort and our toughness,” said BU head coach Joe Jones. “We really had to scrap and claw to get this one.”
The Terrier defense stepped up, especially in the second half
Despite a terrible offensive showing in the first half (read below), BU only trailed by eight at the break. BU held Maine to 9-of-22 (40.9 percent) shooting in the opening half. But in the second frame, where BU typically struggles to play the same caliber defense it did in the first half, the Terriers were even stronger.
Maine was 9 for 26 from the floor and 2 for 9 from 3 in the second half, going scoreless for the final 2:10 as BU continually closed the Black Bear lead, before coming away with the win.
BU had its lowest-scoring first half of the season but turned it around after halftime
BU scored 19 points in the first half, its lowest mark this season. The Terriers shot 7 for 26 from the field, 2 of 11 from 3 and committed nine turnovers. It was an offensive disaster in every way.
Graduate point guard Miles Brewster committed three first-half fouls in just five minutes of action. After his third foul, with 12 minutes and 40 seconds left in the half, BU head coach Joe Jones had no choice but to sit him for the remainder of the opening frame.
Without Brewster on the floor, nor junior point guard Ben Roy (undisclosed injury), BU struggled to create consistent offense. Maine did well to deny passes to the low block, and the Terriers only had eight points in the paint in the first half. BU’s guards also struggled to penetrate consistently.
BU, however, shot 13 for 22 from the field and 5 for 10 from 3 in the second half to earn the comeback win.
Alexander had 10 of his 13 points after halftime. Chimezie scored all eight of his points after the break.
The Terriers went to Chimezie at key points in the second half and he delivered, capped off by his eventual game-winning layup with 20 seconds remaining.
BU only turned it over five times in the second half and was more patient in finding the right looks to get the ball inside. The Terrier guards also found lanes to penetrate inside, setting up higher percentage shots from deep on the kickout.