Jan. 9, 2010
Final Stats
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - For the first time in the 101-season history of the Boston University men's basketball program, two players scored at least 30 points in the same game, as John Holland and Corey Lowe combined for 63 points to lead the Terriers to an 84-70 victory at Hartford Saturday afternoon. BU also held the America East's No. 3 scorer, Joe Zeglinski, to just one field goal to improve to 7-8 and 2-1 in league play.
Less than 48 hours after tallying 28 points in a 60-56 victory at New Hampshire, BU's America East player of the game Lowe went 8-for-14 and 4-for-7 from beyond the arc to tally 31 points, just five shy of his career high. He also had seven rebounds and five assists, while Holland fell one board short of a double-double for the second consecutive game. With 32 points after a 9-for-12 shooting performance, he was just six shy of his best performance, which occurred against Hartford in 2008 at home.
More impressively, the two men went a combined 21-for-24 (.875) at the charity stripe in the second half to finish 22-for-26 (.846). Overall, the Terriers went 30-for-37 (.811), hitting at least 30 shots from the line for the first time since 2002. Carlos Strong contributed 14 points, and Jeff Pelage posted eight rebounds to contribute to the victory in which BU won the rebound battle, 39-33.
Hartford's player of the game Morgan Sabia had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Joel Barkers and Ryan Baker contributed 18 and 12 points, respectively. Zeglinski came into the game averaging 16.4 points after Thursday's 22-point performance against Stony Brook, but the Terriers shut him down, as he went 1-for-6 from the field.
Trailing 49-34 in the second half with 13:00 remaining in regulation, the Hawks (2-13, 0-2 AE) cut the deficit to six, 57-51, at 8:56 off a layup by Charles White, but Strong responded on the ensuing possession with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to nine.
Hartford never came any closer, as BU slowly built the lead to as high as 16, 84-68, at the one minute mark to earn its third straight win over the Hawks. Following Strong's trey, the Terriers scored 22 of 24 points at the charity stripe with Lowe hitting the lone field goal, a contested jumper, at 5:43.
The Hawks started the game with a quick 7-2 spurt, but Valdas Sirutis drained a 3-pointer in-between two treys from Lowe to give BU a 11-7 lead at 16:00. The game then went back and forth with each team going on separate runs.
Joel Barkers capped a 10-2 run with a three-point play at 9:53, but then BU responded with a 21-6 run, finished by Strong hitting a free throw at 1:35. Sabia's two open jumpers kept UH within reach at the half, 34-27.
Holland and Lowe combined for 30 points in the first stanza and would contribute 33 more in the second to finish the game making history for the Terriers.
BU will only have a short time to rest, as the Terriers will next host UMBC on Tuesday, Jan. 12, at Case Gym with a 7 p.m. start time.
