ORONO – A quick glance at a stat sheet told John Giannini everything he had to know about Tuesday night’s America East showdown with Boston University.

One look showed him the equation that led to a disappointing 79-67 loss by his University of Maine squad.

And it explained the work his team has to do if it wants to become an America East contender.

“It came down to our defense,” Giannini said, running a hand down the ledger in front of him. “They shot 56 percent in the second half and they went to the free throw line 22 times.

“So what that tells me is they either scored, or we fouled ’em.”

Not mentioned, but noticed by the frustrated UMaine coach, was another number: One. That’s how many turnovers the Terriers committed after intermission.

That about covers it.

The Black Bears wound up looking to explain their 5-3 record (1-2 in league play) despite shooting 53.2 percent from the floor in front of 1,927 fans in their home gym.

The Terriers, who have yet to play a home game of their own, improved to 5-2, 2-0 in the conference.

“I knew we were gonna have to come out in the second half and bust it,” said junior guard Huggy Dye, who finished with 16 points.

“And like I said in the huddle a few times … if we’re not ready to go then these guys are gonna come out and put a smack down on us and embarrass us really bad. And they did just that.”

Giannini concurred: “Well put,” he told Dye with a somber nod.

The Terriers’ second-half performance came after they’d allowed the Bears to shoot 56.5 percent in the first half and spotted them an eight-point bulge early in the second.

But beefy BU 6-foot-7 freshman Ryan Butt scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and sophomore Billy Collins scored all 10 of his points in the second half as BU roared back.

After the Bears took a 40-32 lead early in the second half, five different BU players scored in an 11-0 run that gave them momentum, and a lead they’d hold for nearly the rest of the game.

Collins capped the binge with a 3-pointer from the left wing with 15:30 to play. That shot gave the Terriers a 43-40 lead.

UMaine battled back and led twice after that: at 49-46 and 53-52.

Then it was Butt’s turn.

The freshman sparked a sustained BU run by nailing a tough 12-foot fadeaway with 8:45 to go, then quietly scored eight of the Terriers’ next 13 points to help hold UMaine at bay over the next five minutes.

“He was strong,” said UMaine’s Carvell Ammons.

Ammons scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but felt he lost the personal war with Butt over that five-minute span.

“I thought that was the turning point of the game, where they won the game,” Ammons said.

The Black Bears got 10 points and 10 rebounds from Julian Dunkley as well.

Stiljin Dhondt tossed in 13 of his 18 points in the first half for BU while freshman Jason Grochowalski added 15 points off the bench.

Ammons said he and the rest of the Bears have to learn how to avoid letdowns like they suffered in a loss last Thursday at Towson, as well as in Tuesday night’s defeat.

“Guys aren’t focused,” Ammons said. “It’s something that coach has talked about and we’ve talked about as a team, but you’ve got to be ready to play the game. You can’t do all the rah-rah. You’ve got to be ready to play the game.”

The Terriers won despite the defensive effort Maine did on Paul Seymour, who entered the game averaging 19 points per game.

Seymour didn’t score in the first half and finished with just four points in 27 minutes while being hounded by Errick Greene. It didn’t matter.

UMaine shot 56.5 percent from the floor in the first half (13 for 23), while holding the Terriers to a 40.7 showing (11 for 27).

NOTES: The Bears scored their first four hoops of the game off assists from four different players: Jackson, Dye, Dunkley, and Greene. … Maine entered the game with a four-game win streak against the Terriers. … The Black Bears arrived at Tuesday’s game having outrebounded six straight opponents since an opening-night loss to Illinois. They were outrebounded 27-26 by the Terriers on Tuesday.

Terriers 79, Black Bears 67

Boston University (5-2) Maine (5-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Fitzgerald 0 0 6 8 6 Dunkley 4 6 1 2 10

Seymour 1 6 2 2 4 Greene 2 4 2 2 6

Dhondt 5 9 5 6 18 Jackson 3 7 0 0 7

Turner 2 8 0 0 4 Dye 6 13 1 1 16

Butt 7 10 4 4 18 Ammons 9 12 6 8 25

Breland 0 0 0 0 0 Waterman 0 0 0 0 0

Graham 2 3 0 0 4 Cavalieri 0 3 0 0 0

Grochowalski 5 10 2 2 15 Haynes 1 2 0 0 3

Collins 3 6 3 4 10 Croom 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 25 52 22 26 79 Totals 25 47 10 12 67

BU 30 79

Maine 35 67

3-pt. goals: BU (7-16): Dhondt 3-5, Grochowalski 3-5, Collins 1-1, Seymour 0-2, Butt 0-2, Turner 0-1; Maine (7-19): Dye 3-8, Dunkley 1-2, Jackson 1-3, Ammons 1-2, Haynes 1-1, Greene 0-1, Cavalieri 0-2

Attendance: 1,927