Aug. 12, 2011
Video: America East Championship highlights
Led by the efforts of America East Player of the Year and All-American John Holland, the Boston University men's basketball team lands at No. 2 on The Terrier Twelve after overcoming a 15-point second-half deficit to claim its first league title and NCAA berth since 2002.
The Terriers entered the season picked to win the conference by the coaches, but what made the choice interesting was the fact BU literally only had three men returning from the 2010 squad that reached the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational.
As then-head coach Patrick Chambers noted at the time of the preseason poll's announcement, the rest of the league feared and respected John Holland and Jake O'Brien, both of whom were selected to the preseason All-Conference team. Holland was a two-time First Team All-Conference honoree, while O'Brien was a 2009 AE Rookie of the Year and a 2010 Third Team All-Conference member entering his junior year.
The rest of the squad was made up of freshmen and transfers eligible to play. No one could predict how quickly the roster would gel together, and the team's performance during the non-conference schedule reflected the uncertainty with highs and lows.
BU snapped a 11-game losing streak to George Washington in the NIT Season Tip-Off, but then suffered heartbreaking losses to Northeastern, Hampton, La Salle, Quinnipiac and Bucknell by a combined 10 points. Making matters worse, on Dec. 31 at Massachusetts, O'Brien suffered a season-ending leg injury.
The newcomers would have to step up. Earlier in the season, junior Matt Griffin scored 21 second half points to help BU defeat Marist, and classmate Darryl Partin tallied a combined 59 points in wins over Cornell and St. Joseph's. Freshmen D.J. Irving and Dom Morris showed flashes as well, but now they would need to be more consistent for the team to accomplish its goals.
BU continued to play uneven through the month of January, posting a 5-4 record with a key home win against Vermont and a difficult loss at UMBC. The Terriers' confidence seemed to reach a new low when they lost at New Hampshire, 60-48, on Jan. 29. Unbeknownst to media and fans alike, the defeat did not force the players and staff to lower their heads. Instead, it only served as a wake-up call that the intensity had to be raised to a new level and that the team needed to clean up a few mental errors.
The light bulb went off and everything came into place. The Terriers went a perfect 8-0 in February, holding opponents to 56.3 ppg. They avenged the earlier loss to UNH in the America East quarterfinals and then pulled out a 55-49 win in front of a hostile crowd against Hartford on its home court to earn the right to host the championship game for the first time since 2003.
In front of a national audience on ESPN2, BU and Stony Brook battled to the final second at Agganis Arena. Also known for having a strong defense, the Seawolves held the Terriers to 22.2 percent shooting in the first half and led 41-26 with 16:47 remaining.
Named the program's first AE Player of the Year since 1997, Holland led the league in scoring at 19.2 ppg but was ice cold in the first half. With Stony Brook poised to stun BU on its home court, the Bronx, N.Y., native went on a five-minute stretch that will be remembered forever in the annals of BU Athletics. He tallied 14 straight points off fast break dunks, long-range 3-pointers and challenging jump shots.
With the crowd in a frenzy, Stony Brook did not let go of the lead until Holland hit two free throws with 1:03 remaining to put the game at 54-54. The Seawolves held the ball with 30 seconds left, but Holland enticed them into a turnover with his third steal of the game. With the ball in his hands as the clock neared zero, he drove to the basketball and drew a foul in the process.
With all the eyeballs focused on him, Holland flushed both free throw attempts to give BU its only lead of the game. Stony Brook missed a wild 3-point attempt before the buzzer sounded, and Terier Nation stormed the court to celebrate the thrilling come-from-behind victory.
The game cemented Holland's status as one of the all-time greats to don the Scarlet and White. He finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds in his final game on campus to earn the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. A week later against top-seeded Kansas in the second round of the NCAAs, he scored a game-high 19 points and capped his career as one of only two players in league history alongside former Celtic Reggie Lewis to finish with at least 2,000 points, 700 rebounds and 200 steals.
A No. 16 seed, BU stunned many experts by hanging tough with Kansas late into the second half. The Terriers had the chance to cut a six-point deficit to four with 9:32 remaining, but KU pulled away for the victory. The Jayhawks snapped the Terriers' 11-game win streak, which was the second longest in the nation at the time.
While the spotlight may have shined brightest on Holland, there were other players who made valuable contributions to make the season memorable. Partin averaged 14.3 ppg and 16.9 ppg in league play to earn First Team All-America East honors. Classmate Patrick Hazel averaged a team-high 5.8 rpg and posted 64 blocks on the season, marking the most by a Terrier not named BU Hall of Famer Tunji Awojobi ('97).
Showing the future is bright, Irving earned All-Rookie Team honors and averaged 8.0 ppg, 3.6 apg and 2.7 rpg. In the NCAA game against Kansas, the 6-foot-0 point guard tallied 11 points, five rebounds and five assists. Morris also earned All-Rookie accolades after averaging 5.6 ppg and 4.7 rpg. In the regular season finale at Vermont with Holland out due to injury, he posted seven points and 11 rebounds to help the Terriers pull out the win.
Griffin did whatever was asked of him by the coaching staff. In the AE quarterfinal game against UNH, he had nine points and eight rebounds after posting five assists in an earlier contest. He also became the team's 3-point sharpshooter, finishing 45.8 percent from beyond the arc, sixth-best mark in the BU record book. Junior Jeff Pelage, junior Chris Kurz, freshman Mike Terry Jr. and freshman Travis Robinson all played critical minutes in the final two months to help the Terriers' dream become reality.
All of the men except for Holland return for the 2011-12 season, and they will be led by a new head coach in Joe Jones. The team has fond memories of last season's triumph but is now focused on the new year with the chance to make BU history. The Terriers have won the AE title six times but have never repeated as champions.
The Terrier Twelve
No. 3 - Stellar Defense Propels BU to Record Year
No. 4 - All-America Efforts Highlight Track & Field Season
No. 5 - Men's Cross Country Returns to the Top
No. 6 - Women's Tennis Keeps Streak Alive
No. 7 - Men's Crew Claims Program-Record Five Cups
No. 8 - Wrestling Post Best NCAA Finish in 14 Years
No. 9 - BU Claims League-Record 11th AE Commissioner's Cup
No. 10 - Setterlund Helps Terriers Earn AE Regular Season Title
No. 11 - Men's Soccer Captures AE Regular Season Title
No. 12 - Alford Named AE Player of the Year, Leads Women's Basketball to Title Game
A Letter from Athletic Director Mike Lynch
