ORONO – The last time the University of Maine men’s basketball team matched up with Boston University, the Black Bears won almost every significant statistical category and still lost.

The rematch went pretty much the same Wednesday night as the Terriers took advantage of Maine miscues in the second half to rally for a 66-55 victory.

The Terriers’ win snapped a five-game Maine winning streak and meant a BU sweep of the regular-season series for the sixth time in seven seasons.

BU’s defensive pressure and a bit of Maine carelessness with the ball helped provide fuel for a 12-2 Terriers run that gave BU a 58-45 lead with four minutes left that would never dip below 11 points the rest of the way.

Maine committed five straight turnovers during that run and 13 in the second half after making only four in the first half. BU made just five in the second and 11 overall.

“I give them a lot of credit with a great defensive effort for 40 minutes, but I felt like that’s the sloppiest we’ve been in quite awhile,” said Maine coach Ted Woodward. “We weren’t crisp in a lot of our cuts, a lot of our passes, and how we got to our spots for most of the second half.”

The Terriers (8-12 overall, 5-3 in America East) took the lead with 12:14 left in the second half and never looked back.

“They stepped up their defensive pressure and we were kind of on our heels offensively,” said Maine senior point guard Jon Sheets, who was held to seven points on 3-for-6 shooting. “They got the stops and grabbed the boards when they needed them.”

Still, the stat sheet looked positive for Maine (10-12, 5-5) as the Bears outshot BU 44.2 percent to 40, outrebounded the Terriers 34-31, and outscored them in the paint 36-24, in second-chance points 8-4, and bench points 20-9.

What wasn’t positive were turnovers (Maine’s 17 to BU’s 11) and points off them (22-15 in BU’s favor).

Maine leading scorer Kevin Reed took only eight shots and hit just one of them for two points – his lowest total of the season – while being guarded primarily by Portland native Carlos Strong.

“I thought Carlos [Strong] did a good job individually, but I think collectively everyone did a good job of jumping out when they ran those staggered screens for him and he never really got in a rhythm,” said BU coach Dennis Wolff.

Strong, a freshman guard, started in place of leading scorer Corey Lowe and finished with 15 points, three rebounds, and two assists in 35 minutes.

Sophomore forward Philippe Tchekane Bofia led Maine with 12 points, but only two of them came in the second half.

“They took us out of our offense and were able to keep us from doing the things we like to do,” said Bofia. “It also made it more difficult with all the foul trouble.”

The Terriers got in the double bonus in each half: with 1:37 left in the first and 4:45 left in the second. They hit 20 of 25 from the line to UM’s 6 of 11.

Senior forward Chris Bruff had 11 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a blocked shot.

Bofia, Bruff, and Ahvenniemi each had four fouls for a good portion of the second half.

Freshman guard Tyler Morris led the Terriers with 19 points while freshman forward Scott Brittain had 13 points, five rebounds, and three steals.

“Tyler Morris is just tremendous,” Woodward said. “Every big play they made tonight, he had something to do with it. He had a great night.”

TERRIERS 66, BLACK BEARS 55

Boston U. (8-12) Maine (10-12)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Peterkin 1 9 6 6 8 Bruff 5 13 11

Brittain 5 7 2 7 13 Ahvnnimi 4 9

Macon 0 0 2 2 2 Sheets 3 6 7

Strong 4 11 4 4 15 Bernal 3 9 6

Morris 7 13 3 3 19 Reed 1 8 2

Konate 2 4 2 2 6 Socoby 2 2 7

Sirutis 0 0 0 0 0 Andre 0 2 0

Johnson 0 4 0 0 0 Cook 0 1 1

Smith 1 2 1 1 3 TchknBfia 5 12

Totals 20 50 20 25 66 Totals 23 52 11 55

Boston University 33 66

Maine 35 55

3-pt. goals – BU (6-21): Brittain 1-2, Strong 3-9, Morris 2-6, Johnson 0-3, Smith 0-1; Maine (3-13): Bruff 0-1, Sheets 1-4, Reed 0-5, Socoby 1-1, Tchekane Bofia 1-2

Attendance: 1,596