Men’s basketball wins first 4 Patriot League contests

By Christopher Dela Rosa/DFP Staff

Exiting winter break and entering the heart of the season, the Boston University men’s basketball team remains undefeated in conference play and sits atop the Patriot League standings.

“Now, I think we’re shooting the ball the way we’re capable of shooting it,” said BU coach Joe Jones. “The biggest thing for our team is we have to get better defensively. If we can do that, at the end of the day, I feel good about our chances of having a really special year.”

Despite the positivity surrounding the Terriers (11-6, 4-0 Patriot League), their play over winter break left some unanswered questions about the team’s ability to play through 40 minutes and compete consistently in tough situations.

BU showed some of this inconsistency against George Washington University on Dec. 11, as the Terriers were on the verge of their first victory against an Atlantic-10 Conference opponent since 2011, but fell just short.

The Terriers led the game at halftime and boasted an eight-point lead with 12 minutes remaining in the second frame. The zone defense to which the Colonials (13-3) switched troubled the Terrier offense, which watched its lead vanish and transform into a 70-60 Colonial victory.

Ten days later, the Terriers traveled down to College Park, Md., to take on Atlantic Coast Conference member in the University of Maryland. BU was fresh off of a home loss against Norfolk State University, but bounced back in spectacular fashion with an 83-77 victory over the Terrapins (10-7). The victory marked the Terriers’ second win over a member of the ACC in three years.

Despite being in foul trouble, senior point guard D.J. Irving put on a show, scoring 25 points in only 22 minutes of play, going 4-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc. Even though Maryland hit 51.5 percent of its chances from the field in the second half, the BU offense led by Irving put up enough to come out on top.

“It was more down the stretch, in the second half of games, the last 10 minutes of the game, the last eight minutes of the game, we had a hard time finishing those games off against quality opponents on their floor,” Jones said. “That was the first time we were able to do that and I thought it was a breakthrough for us, so I hope our guys are able to feel good about what they accomplished that day, but we’re not satisfied.

“Once we won the game, we talked about how we didn’t want it to be the highlight of our season, we don’t want that to be the only thing people say.”

The following weekend, BU hit the road again, this time facing another Atlantic-10 opponent in Saint Joseph’s University. The game served as a Philadelphia homecoming for a handful of Terriers such as Irving, sophomore guard Maurice Watson Jr., senior forward Dom Morris and senior forward Travis Robinson, who all grew up in the area.

BU started out the game strong, heading into halftime with a 35-28 lead, hitting 45.5 percent of its shots. With eight minutes remaining in the contest and the Terriers holding onto a slim four-point lead, St. Joseph’s (10-5) woke up from their first half struggles and went on a 20-4 run over the course of seven minutes to take a commanding 67-58 lead on their way to winning the game by a score 73-67 over the Terriers.

In the Terriers’ Patriot League opener against the College of the Holy Cross at Agganis Arena, the team showcased its mental toughness.

BU took the lead seven minutes into the first half and appeared to have the game in hand. With 12:33 left in the game, however, the Crusaders (7-9, 1-3 Patriot League) were able to pull within two points, but the Terriers amped up their defensive pressure, forced turnovers and moved the ball around efficiently to produce open shots.

Role players like sophomore forward Justin Alston and freshman guard Cedric Hankerson drained their looks, distancing the Terriers from the Crusaders, giving BU a 70-60 victory.

Just three days later, BU took on another conference foe in Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., getting into a situation similar to its previous game. BU held an eight-point lead with 2:31 remaining in the game, but allowed Lehigh (8-9, 1-3) to claw back and take a one-point lead with eight seconds left in the game.

Although down by one, Irving drew a foul and went to the line with two seconds left. The co-captain stepped up, hitting both shots and giving BU its second victory in the conference.

After hitting the road, the Terriers came back to Commonwealth Avenue to host the U.S. Naval Academy. An early 13-3 run in the opening minutes of the first half helped jumpstart the Terriers’ offense. Despite shooting less than 40 percent from the field, Hankerson, Watson and Morris each posted double-digit point totals, leading to BU’s third-straight win.

Looking to win their fourth Patriot League game of the season, the Terriers had one of their best shooting outputs on the road against Lafayette College. BU scored 89 points, shot 55.6 percent from the field and hit a season-high 15 3-pointers. Sophomore guard John Papale led the way with 16 points and was one of five Terriers to score at least 10 points for the game.

The Terriers’ next game will be against a tough Colgate University team. Despite their sub-.500 record, the Raiders (6-9, 0-4 Patriot League) have stayed close in games against quality teams from major conferences like Syracuse University and Georgetown University.

“We’ve just been taking this one game at a time,” Jones said. “We’re really trying to understand what things we have to get better at, things that we’re doing well. That’s our mindset right now.

“I think we’ve got to continue talking about taking care of the basketball, getting quality shots each and every time down the floor and then defensively just improving and really getting better.”

BU falls in final non-conference game against St. Joseph's

By Christopher Dela Rosa/DFP Staff

PHILADELPHIA – Just over a week after defeating the University of Maryland, the Boston University men’s basketball team traveled to a packed Hagan Arena to take on St. Joseph’s University.

Following a strong effort in the first half, the Terriers (7-6) gave up the lead in the second half, falling to the Hawks (7-4) 73-67.

“Our lack of discipline showed tonight against a team that’s pretty good,” said BU coach Joe Jones.

The Terriers had a bumpy start to the first half, falling behind 5-0, turning the ball over and missing multiple shots on their end.

To jumpstart their offense, the BU looked to one of its senior tri-captains, guard D.J. Irving, who provided some offense with a quick layup to end the Hawks’ initial run.

Midway through the first half after staying close on the scoreboard with the Hawks, BU took a one-point lead off of two free throws from freshman guard Cedric Hankerson.

With 5:33 remaining in the frame, the Terriers held onto a 26-23 lead, with the Hawks threatening to tie the score.  In an effort to bring some more energy to his team and give BU some breathing room heading to the half, Jones called for some full court pressure defense.  The Terriers’ quickness put them in position to create turnovers, leading to crisp passes and open shots on the offensive end.

BU entered the halftime break with a seven-point lead, getting production all over the court, as eight of the nine players to enter the game for the Terriers scored during the half. 

At the end of 20 minutes, senior forward Dom Morris and sophomore guards Maurice Watson Jr. and John Papale led the team in scoring with six points apiece.  In the half, the Terriers shot well from the field, hitting 45.5 percent of their shots, while the Hawks shot 42.3 percent.

Looking to keep the momentum going from the end of the first, BU took an 11-point lead following a 3-pointer from John Papale just over a minute into the second half.

Despite building up a sizable lead early in the second half, the Hawks would not go away and went on a 13-2 run.  A jump shot from senior Langston Galloway tied the score at 43 with 13:50 left in the half, reigniting the crowd of 4,051 fans in attendance, forcing Jones to call a timeout.

Although there looked to be a shift of momentum towards the Hawks’ side, the Terries were able to compose themselves and regain the lead, holding onto a seven-point advantage with 8:46 remaining in the game.

Over the course of the next seven minutes, however, the Hawks went on a 20-4 run, and the Terriers found themselves trailing 67-58 with 1:03 left in the contest.

“I just think we lacked mental and physical toughness when they made their run,” Jones said.  “We didn’t handle it great, which is disappointing because we did a great job against Maryland.”

In the end, BU could not to dig itself out of the hole it created.  A combination of poor shooting, turnovers and defensive fouls did the Terriers in during the final stretch of the game.

During the opening half, the Terriers only turned the ball over only two times, while they coughed the rock up seven times in the second.   Although the nine turnovers were below the Terriers’ season average of 12.2 per game, the Hawks capitalized on BU’s mistakes in the final half of play, scoring eight points off of turnovers in the second.

“I thought we had a couple guys trying to do too much with the ball and that hurt us, and that’s disappointing,” Jones said.

While the Terriers and Hawks both shot the ball well in the opening frame, the second half saw a drastic change, as the Terriers shot 38 percent on 29 shots, while the Hawks shot 48 percent on 27 shots, while also making 17 free throws.

“We’ve got to stay together when those times come,” Jones said.  “We’re a good team, we just got to keep playing together on both sides of the floor and I think we would’ve been in good shape.”