BU to take on ranked Harvard University Saturday

By René Reyes/DFP Staff

On Saturday, the Boston University men's basketball team returns to Agganis Arena, the sight of its program-defining win in last year's America East Championship game, for a late afternoon tilt with a ranked opponent from across the Charles River.

BU (4-5) will have its hands full when it welcomes No. 24 Harvard University (8-1) to the Greek with tip-off scheduled for 4 p.m. The heavily promoted game will be televised live on NESN.

Darryl Partin will lead the Terriers in their first game against a ranked team since they hosted St. Joseph’s University back on Nov. 25, 2003 at the Roof. The senior guard is averaging 23.9 points per game, good for second in the country, and has tallied 20-plus points in his last seven games. He scored a team-high 24 points for the Terriers last Wednesday.

Sophomore guard D.J. Irving stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but it wasn’t enough as BU fell to St. Joseph’s, 75-68, snapping its four-game winning streak.

In a homecoming of sorts, sophomore forward Dom Morris, who played high school basketball at Friends’ Central High School in Wynnewood, Pa., pulled down nine boards in the loss and has shown flashes as of late of being the dominant force on the glass that he was billed to be when he stepped foot on the BU campus last year.

The Crimson has been one of the few surprises of the NCAA season thus far, racing out to a perfect 8-0 record and earning its first national ranking in the school’s storied 101-year history. Harvard comes into the contest having suffered its first loss of the season -- a 63-57 defeat to the defending national champion and No. 9 University of Connecticut in Storrs, Conn., on Thursday.

Reigning Ivy League Player of the co-captain Keith Wright paces the Crimson with 11.1 ppg and is averaging a team-best 6.6 rebounds through nine games. Junior forward Kyle Casey is close behind with 11.0 ppg and 5.2 rpg.