It's been a rough year for Stony Brook from the moment Tommy Brenton's season ended before it began with a dislocated kneecap, but the Seawolves' 62-49 loss to Boston University on Friday night at Pritchard Gymnasium might have been the roughest of all.
"That was a tough one," Pikiell said. "We didn't play well, and their big guys killed us in the paint."
John Holland, a fifth-year senior, had 17 points and seven rebounds, and Patrick Hazel had 12 points and six boards. Guard Darryl Partin led the Terriers with 19 points, going inside for several of his baskets.
With the first of his trio of three-pointers, the Seawolves' Bryan Dougher broke the previous school career record of 221 threes by Josh Little from 1997-2001, and he finished with a team-high 17 points. No one else reached double figures for Stony Brook (9-13, 4-6), which lost a chance to reach .500 in conference play.
Freshman forward Eric McAlister, who had his career-best game Monday, played only eight minutes thanks to a fever of 104 degrees. Big man Dallis Joyner was 1-for-5 from the field and 0-for-4 at the foul line, and senior Chris Martin and transfer Al Rapier each shot 1-for-4.
The Seawolves trailed 24-22 at halftime, but Holland scored eight of BU's first 10 in the second half as the Terriers' lead reached 15 points. Stony Brook cut it to 50-45 with 5:29 to play, but BU scored two more times in the paint, and freshman Dave Coley committed two turnovers at the other end.
Pikiell wasn't about to put it on a freshman, saying Coley played well on defense against Holland. "Dallis has to play," Pikiell said. "Their kid [Hazel] is a man. Dallis and Al have to give us something around the basket . . . How we play is how our veterans play, and Chris really struggled. We need more out of Dallis. It's never about the rookies."
