Men's Basketball Earns Win #1

by Seth Orensky

It wasn’t pretty, but the Boston University Terriers got their first win of the season. BU rode sophomore forward Jake O’Brien’s (’12) first career double-double to a 71-67 over the Indiana University Hoosiers. The Terriers overcame the Hoosiers, who led by as many as nine in the second half to gain their first victory against a school from one of the six major conferences since 2004. O’Brien led the way for the Terriers with 14 points and 13 rebounds, by far his best performance of the season.

“When we finally took the lead it felt good. Win or lose tonight we took a step. Fortunately we won,” Head Coach Patrick Chambers said.

BU continued to struggle for the field, hitting just 29.3% of their shots, but improved upon their other early season weaknesses. For the first time all season, the Terriers did not have a player foul out and because of that, Chambers’ squad was able to play a smoother second half with all of his best players on the court rather than riding the bench with foul trouble. BU’s 16 turnovers tied their season low and BU focused on being more aggressive. Penetrating the lane and drawing fouls was the reason why the Terriers outscored the Hoosiers from the line 29-14. BU’s biggest success though in the game was rebounding, as the veteran squad outgained a young Hoosiers squad under head coach Tom Crean by 20 rebounds, 52-32.

“We just send our three, four, five guys to the offensive glass. We made it we stressed it today in walkthrough and in all the film sessions. We felt that Kansas State had too many second chances,” Chambers said.


Jeff Pelage (’12) was a huge part of the Terriers success on the boards taking down nine rebounds in 22 minutes of play. John Holland (’11), who did not start for the third straight game after starting 30 games for the Terriers last year, led the team with 21 points and five rebounds. Holland, who has led the Terriers in all three games since being benched, hit eight of his nine free throws helping the Terriers make 73% of the free throws, topping their season average of 71%. The only other Terrier in double figures was Tyler Morris (‘10), who finished with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists. Freshmen B.J. Bailey (’13) made his collegiate debut and scored three points after missing the team’s first 3 game with post concussion symptoms.

Indiana led by as many as eight in the first half behind freshmen guard Maurice Creek’s 17 points. Creek went 6-8 in the first half, including 4-8 from behind the three-point land to give Indiana a five point lead going into halftime. The Terriers, who struggled from the field in the first half, hitting only 20% of their shots, kept the game close by going 16-21 from the free throw line. BU made some key second half adjustments, the biggest of which was shutting down Creek.

“I was able to get some open shots early, but they made some adjustments defensively and I couldn't get them to fall," Creek said.

The Hoosiers started the second half strong, extending their lead to a game high nine points 40-31 at the 16:37 mark when the Terriers missed five out of their first five shots coming out of halftime. BU closed the deficit to one at the 12 minute mark, but could not take the lead until the 2:19 mark when O’Brien hit the first of two clutch free throws to put BU up 66-65. The Terriers were able to take the lead because of three three-pointers in a row by O’Brien, Corey Lowe (’10) and Carlos Strong (’10).

O’Brien then hit a layup to extend the lead to four at 69-65, the Terriers largest lead of the game. Strong and Lowe, who both struggled offensively, hit one of two free throws each to put the game out of reach.