The Terriers came into the 2011-12 season with a lot of questions. Did they peak last year? Who was going to take over the scoring punch of John Holland? How would Coach Joe Jones do in his first year? The one thing that was certain from the start of the season: it would take time to see.
The start of the season kept all of these questions up in the air, thanks to a 0-4 losing streak. However, despite the losses, there were signs of hope. Darryl Partin showed that he could (and would) pick up the team’s scoring slack; D.J. Irving progressively began to improve from where he left off last season; and bigs Patrick Hazell and Dom Morris started to show dominance in the paint. Something just needed to turn the Terriers’ way. Their first win came against URI, with four players scoring in double figures; the team went on to even their record at 4-4.
Nevertheless, it wouldn’t last. The boys would fall. Hard.
At the start of the winter, the team lost 7 games straight, including a blowout against then-#24 Harvard and another to America East rival Vermont. From there, the team started another streak that brought them back to .500. After a home win against Maine, the team was finally within reach of a winning season. The boys were 16-15 (12-4 in conference play) and entered the America East tournament as the #3 seed.
Thanks to a 53-49 loss to the #6 seed Hartford, whom the Terriers had defeated twice on the year, the team ended the season 16-16. To Hartford’s credit, they made a solid comeback in the second half of the game. So, the Terriers’ season is over, unless they receive the call to a lesser-known postseason tournament, like the College Basketball Invitational.
The best way to describe this year’s team would be streaky. This isn’t just because of the pattern of wins and losses they built, but more for the… Actually, it was just for that. The team was all over the place all year. In their wins, the team was downright impressive and determined, but in the lopsided losses, they looked lost, thanks to weak shooting and turnovers. But you could also say the Terriers were stubborn – they never gave up. There were multiple games where they were getting blown out, but kept pushing and trying to find a way back into the game. Good season, boys; we’ll see you next year.
