BU vs. UNH Recap: Who Wants It Least?

Well it was an ugly finish last night at the Roof between the Wildcats and the Terriers. But let's start with the beginning of the game.

UNH came out with more energy. They were playing the slowed down game they often do against BU, and it was working, giving them a six point halftime lead.

But out of the gates in the second half, the Terriers looked like a new team. On an 8-2 run to open the half and tie the game, all three made field goals were lay ups on back door cuts. The offense looked like it was clicking, and the momentum had shifted. BU then took a four point lead, but UNH would come back.

The Wildcats could not be kept out of the paint. Their guards were driving in and with no help coming from the Terriers, this lead to many easy buckets that drove Joe Jones nuts. BU would close the gap, but UNH would answer, either with a drive or second-chance points (they had 11 in the second half).

Then the ugly happened

With about 3:30, it all started. With the Wildcats up 54-50, Dom Morris got the ball down low and went up. He looked to be fouled (Jones was very convinced he was) but no call was made. UNH then went down and got a put back by Brian Benson to put the Wildcats up six. While driving to the hoop, Darryl Partin looked to commit an offensive foul, but was awarded the make up call from the previous possession. He hits the two free throws and cuts the lead to four.

When UNH got the ball next, there was a questionable out of bounds call right along their bench which made coach Bill Herrion go nuts. BU missed a three and then played good defense to force a missed three by the Wildcats, which went out of bounds in favor of the Terriers (Herrion was not please with this call either). Partin was then called for a travel to give the ball back.

A block by Malik Thomas got DJ Irving the ball and he went the length of the court and finished with a 360 layup to pull BU to within a basket. Jones had them put on the press, and it looked like it worked when Alvin Abreu appeared to travel at mid-court. But it went uncalled so BU was forced to foul. Patrick Konan then missed the front end of his one-and-one and BU brought the ball up.

Now is where shot selection killed the Terriers. Partin ended up taking a fade-away three with 24 seconds left and missing. A quick foul and UNH was back at the line with a chance to ice the game. But another front end miss and the Terriers had the ball with 22 seconds left with a chance to tie or win.

After a time out, BU ran the ball around the perimeter a little bit, but looked very confused. With less than 10 seconds left, Irving had the ball at the top of the key and drove the lane and put up a tough shot, which missed. UNH got the board, missed both free throws, but there wasn't enough time to get a shot off and the Wildcats got their first win in Boston since 1994.

The Terriers, Wildcats, and refs all looked bad down the stretch. UNH couldn't hit free throws to put the game away. I usually don't criticize refs, but they were very inconsistent last night. Maybe so much so that it evened out, but it really set the end of the game back.

What is puzzling is the end of the game shot selection for BU. They looked confused, and didn't move the ball around. They needed to get Dom Morris a touch. He had a fantastic game (17 and 12 on 7-9 shooting) and was very effective on offense. Even if he didn't shoot it, he could have drawn a double team and gotten someone else open. It's unfortunate his great game will go unnoticed.

Oh well, maybe this will be a good learning experience for the tournament. Hopefully a BracketBuster match-up with Loyola will bring a better performance.