Nov. 25, 2007

Box Score

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Boston University men's basketball team was bitten by the turnover bug as the Terriers (1-4) lost to Marshall (3-0) by the score of 70-47 on Sunday in the Cam Henderson Center. BU committed 19 miscues, giving up 22 points off those turnovers.

Sophomore forward Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont.) led Boston University with 13 points and four rebounds. Freshman John Holland (Bronx, N.Y.) posted 11 points. Tirrell Baines scored a game-high 16 points for the Herd.

A swarming 2-3 Marshall zone forced three Terrier turnovers in the first 3:26 as the Herd ran out to a 9-3 lead. BU cut it to 13-10 on a three-point play by Holland at 12:47 in the first after he was fouled driving to the basket. But Marshall took an 18-13 advantage at 11:32 on a 3-pointer by Baines and stayed five points ahead of BU until the Herd went on an 10-0 run to extend its lead to 32-17 on a pair of Humphrey free throws at 4:16. MU finished the half on a 16-5 run, including 6-for-8 from the foul line.

The Herd's strong defense was on display early, as Marshall forced 14 first-half turnovers, grabbed six steals and blocked five shots. MU shot 52.0 percent (13-for-25) during the first frame to negate BU's best first-half shooting percentage (40.0; 8-for-20) since the season-opening win over St. Bonaventure.

Brittain scored BU's first five points and junior guard Marques Johnson (Hazlet, N.J.) added a driving layup as the Terriers went on a 7-2 run to open the second half. But Marshall maintained its double-digit lead - taking as much as a 24-point lead (58-34) on a pair of Markel Humphrey free throws when the Terriers went cold from the floor for five minutes in the middle of the second half. BU couldn't recover from that drought as the Herd answered every Boston University basket with one of its own.

Marshall's defense tallied eight steals and blocked six shots. The Herd shot 50.0 percent to BU's 38.1 percent.

Next up, the Terriers head back north with a stop in Pittsburgh to face the Panthers on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m.