BU throttles Harvard

Boston University entered last night's nonconference game against Harvard having won its last seven meetings with the Crimson. The Terriers weren't about to deviate from that trend.

Junior guard Corey Lowe of Newton scored a game-high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting (including 4 of 6 from the 3-point arc) and freshman Jake O'Brien of Weymouth had 18 points and eight rebounds to help the Terriers (4-2) stretch their winning streak over Harvard (3-2) with a 75-59 triumph at Lavietes Pavilion.

"We have so many weapons, so it's definitely tough for anybody to guard us," said BU sophomore forward John Holland, who chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds. "Any number of different people might be able to light it up."

BU, which wrapped up a three-game road swing with a 2-1 record, hit 47.5 percent of its field goals (28 of 59) as well as 46.4 percent of its 3-pointers (13 of 28), while converting 20 turnovers into 19 points. Harvard shot 47 percent overall (25 of 53), but struggled to find the mark from the arc, hitting just 2 of 15.

"Obviously, yeah, having them light us up like that was pretty impressive on their part," said junior guard Jeremy Lin, who was the only Harvard player in double figures with 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting, 0 for 3 from the arc. "We knew they were good shooters, but I don't know if we knew they were this good. We just got to learn our lesson and move on."

But BU's real focus wasn't stopping Lin. It was the containment of Keith Wright, a 6-foot-7-inch, 240-pound freshman forward who entered the game on the heels of an impressive effort (12 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocked shots) in a 66-54 victory over Army last Saturday. Last night, however, Wright wound up with more turnovers (7) than points (6), and just one rebound to go with one blocked shot.

"The whole key to the game was our being able to double Wright in the post," said BU coach Dennis Wolff. "That was the key to the game."

Despite going nearly 8 1/2 minutes between field goals in the first half, the Crimson managed to whittle BU's 29-21 lead to 1 (33-32) on back-to-back baskets by Evan Harris, who led Harvard with 9 first-half points.

The Terriers heated up from the perimeter, getting 3-pointers by Holland and Lowe, who combined for 24 first-half points to help BU control a 41-34 lead at intermission.

"I thought we played a solid 20 minutes in the first half but they shot the ball incredibly well," said Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, whose team wrapped up a three-game homestand and will play four of its next five on the road. "You look at their percentage from the 3-point line, and we felt they were a very good jump-shooting team, but they got into a really good rhythm and made some tough ones. We struggled and turned the ball over 20 times, which is going to hurt us."

The Terriers wasted little time expanding their halftime margin by turning up the defensive pressure and forcing the Crimson to commit turnovers on three straight possessions, enabling BU to open up a 47-35 lead on Tyler Morris's elbow jumper with 17:31 remaining.

Harvard came back and twice pulled within 8 (47-39 and 49-41) on Lin's driving layup with 15:50 left and Drew Housman's layup with 14:33 to go. It was as close as BU allowed the Crimson as the Terriers went on to seize control with a 22-6 run - sparked by a pair of treys by O'Brien.

"I think we showed a lot of heart this game to be able to put a team away when we had them down," Holland said. "Unlike Northeastern, who we let stay in the game [in an 83-75 victory at Matthews Arena Nov. 25], we were able to put Harvard away, so that was good. It was a step forward."