M Bball: Terriers Season Ends in 72-53 Loss To Kansas

Weekend Review in Pictures



John Holland Locker Room Thoughts



Matt Griffin Locker Room Thoughts (focuses on John Holland's legacy)



Press Conference: Pat Chambers reflects on the end of John Holland's career and Kansas' second-half surge.




By Seth Orensky

For 30 minutes BU men’s basketball captured the attention of not only Boston but the nation’s basketball fans, in their attempt to pull off the most improbable upset in NCAA history. Playing with the swagger and confidence of a team that had played on the biggest stage multiple times, the Terriers traded baskets throughout the first half drawing standing ovations at each stoppage from the BU faithful.

Even after a Kansas onslaught coming out of halftime, the Terriers found themselves trailing by just six points with 9:26 remaining after a Dom Morris (’14) 3-pointer chipped into the Kansas lead. 30 minutes, 34 seconds of BU basketball, but it wasn’t enough to stop the high-powered, top seeded Kansas attack.

“No, I knew it was coming. There was no doubt,” head coach Pat Chambers said. “I watched a lot of film, and I'd watched Coach Self for many, many years. That's what they do. They score in bunches. I knew it was coming.”

The Terriers (21-14) eventually succumbed to the second-ranked Jayhawks (33-2) offensive barrage in a season-ending 72-53 loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Senior John Holland (’11) led the way in his final collegiate game with a game-high 19 points in 35 minutes of play before being replaced with 20 seconds remaining to a standing ovation from both fan sections.

“It was a real great experience. What can I say?” Holland said. “I mean, I'll never forget it, just the whole game, just being out there playing. Kansas is a great team. I know we played as hard as we could.”

Freshman DJ Irving (’14) was the only other Terrier in double-figures as he finished with 11 points, five rebounds, six assists and five turnovers. Junior Jeff Pelage (’12) the only other active member of last season’s team that made a run to the College Basketball Insider Final Four, had his best game of the season with seven rebounds and a pair of blocks in 21 minutes.

Despite the Terriers’ best efforts, the imposing duo of Marcus and Markieff Morris (’12) proved too much for BU in the second half. The twins pounded BU early and often in the second half with 18 of their 31 points and eight of their 19 rebounds as Kansas looked to send BU packing with a knockout blow from their starting forwards.

“But the second half we do it all the time. You make an emphasis, get it in tight, get it in tight, play through those guys [Marcus and Markieff Morris],” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We did a much better job getting the ball into them and playing behind their touches.”

But the final run was sparked by the Jayhawks’ brutal efficiency from the field in the second half rather than the Philadelphia brothers. Kansas put the game out of reach with a 23-4 run in which they scored on eight of ten possessions and hit all eight attempted shots. For the half, Kansas shot 61 percent from the field, including 4-9 from behind the arc to put the game out of reach and end the Terriers’ 11-game winning streak.

“The turning point was them hitting shots and us not responding,” Dom Morris said. “They went up about 10 [at one point] and we cut it down to seven, and then [Brady] Morningstar (’11) hit a three and then one of the twins hit a three. After that, they went up 20 and just stayed up.”

Both teams opened the game cold, as they combined to miss their first six field-goal attempts before Markieff Morris hit a jumper to open the scoring. Holland quickly responded with a jumper of his own and one of his three first half 3-pointers to tie the game twice, before an Irving driving layup gave BU its first lead of the night 7-5 with 14:45 remaining.

The two teams went back and forth with Kansas edging the lead to as many as four before Holland and the Terriers would respond. Holland scored 15 of the Terriers first 24 points before having to sit with two fouls with 2:24 to go in the first half.

With Holland out of the lineup, the freshman picked up the scoring slack. Irving drew to the lane and hit a layup and Dom Morris followed with a triple that cut the Kansas lead to two with just over a minute to play. After a Kansas basket, Darryl Partin (’12) was called for an offensive foul giving Kansas one last possession and a chance to head into the locker room with the lead and all the momentum against the AE champions.

As the shot clock wound down, Marcus Morris backed down his defender and tried to hit a jumper from six feet only to have his shot swatted out of bounds from a soaring Pelage. Morris’ desperation three as the shot clock expired was off the mark and BU ran into the locker room to a standing ovation and national buzz.

“We knew we could compete with Kansas before the game even started, so we weren't satisfied when we went into halftime,” Irving said. “We were just ready to go back out and play a little harder than we did in the first half so we could come out with a good end result.”

The second half proved to be a different story for the Terriers. Self’s offense out of the break ran through the Morris twins as the two combined for Kansas’ first eight points of the half, with six coming in the paint. For the game, the Jayhawks dominated the paint, pulling down 15 more rebounds and scoring 20 more points inside than the Terriers.

Even after the initial burst by the Morris’ helped Kansas build its largest lead to that point at 11, BU slowly chipped away at the deficit behind Irving’s aggressiveness. The AE Rookie Team member hit four consecutive free-throws and after two more free throws from Holland, found a wide open Morris to cut the deficit to six.

“He's a special kid, a special kid,” Chambers said of Irving. “He's a freshman out there on the biggest stage of his life. He really stepped up. He really managed the game well.”

But then the run began. Top rated prospect Josh Selby (’14) hit a jumper, followed by three consecutive 3-pointers, including the final trey from Markieff Morris forcing a Chambers timeout.

At the same time that Kansas was catching fire, BU couldn’t seem to find the distance. Holland missed his first seven field-goal attempts of the second half and the team as a whole started the half shooting 1-10 from the field.

“They're so big and strong and physical, and they can hurt you in so many ways, that I think they wore us down about the 8, 7:00 minute mark, and you noticed our shots were short or long.”

At the end of the run, the Jayhawks held a 68-45 lead with 4:10 remaining and the final seconds of the BU season were merely playing themselves out. Holland hit his final field-goal in scarlet and white with 2:11 remaining to cut the deficit to 22, his last official statistic after spending four years rewriting the Terriers record books.

The only thing left was his final farewell. After a missed three, Partin chased down a Kansas player with 20 seconds remaining so that Holland could receive one last ovation. As the senior walked off the court, he and Chambers embraced and shared a few words while Kansas celebrated.

“Just said thank you,” Chambers said. “You know, I loved him very much and thank you. Thanks for taking us on this incredible, incredible journey.”

Notes:

The loss dropped BU’s record in NCAA tournament play to 2-7 all-time and continued the team’s drought against ranked opponents (1959). BU will have every player on the roster back with the exception of Holland.