Despite a 92-77 loss on Saturday afternoon to Bucknell University, the Boston University men’s basketball team saw a bright spot in the return of its leading rebounder, junior forward Nathan Dieudonne.
Dieudonne had missed the last game against American University due to a coach’s decision, and his presence was missed immensely as the Terriers (8-11, 4-4 Patriot League) were outrebounded by the worst rebounding team in the Patriot League, 27-24.
However, with the return of Dieudonne to the lineup against number-one team in the conference Bucknell (11-10, 6-2 Patriot League), BU kept the rebounding margin slim, only being outrebounded by one and limiting the Bison’s second-chance point opportunities.
Dieudonne led all Terriers with seven rebounds and also pacing the team with 15 points off the bench.
But BU coach Joe Jones said, moving forward, the team shouldn’t count solely on Dieudonne for rebounds.
“[Dieudonne] is our best rebounder, but we need all our guys to rebound,” he said. “We play a 4-out, 1-in, so we need more people to crash the boards on the offensive glass.”
BU will need Dieudonne’s rebounding as well as a more collective effort when they face off against the number-two rebounding team in the Patriot League, the United States Military Academy Thursday.
Hankerson and defense struggle after record performance night
Sophomore guard Cedric Hankerson’s name was cemented in the BU record books Jan. 21 as he recorded a program-record nine steals in a 59-54 win over American (11-9, 4-4 Patriot League).
However, BU’s next game was one to forget for Hankerson and the Terriers. Hankerson followed his record-breaking night with a blank space in the steals department against the Bison.
It seemed as if Hankerson’s defensive struggles might have also played a part in his offensive struggles, or vice versa, as he had issues shooting the ball and was 0-for-5 from 3-point range and 2-for-12 overall from the field.
In addition, after BU’s stifling defensive performance — giving up just 54 points to American — the Terriers surrendered the most points they have to an opposing team all year. It didn’t help that they couldn’t contain the fourth-leading scorer in the Patriot League, guard Chris Hass, as he torched BU with 28 points and went 6-for-7 from 3-point range.
In comparing the two games, Jones said the Terriers have to be more consistent in their approach to the games.
“I felt the pace of the American game was slower. We came out focused,” he said. “Not to take anything away from Bucknell. They made tough shots, but we didn’t come in the game with the same mindset, and we gave them confidence.”
Jones said the team has also struggled to implement ideas talked about in practice.
“We gave up a big offensive rebound, which the team talked about earlier. We have to do a better job with our transition defense and blocking out,” Jones said. “We’ve been inconsistent this year. A lot of the times, we try to outscore our opponents rather than just playing solid defense so we have to just be more consistent in our defensive approach.”
Inflate-gate?
Over the past week, the major news story out of New England has been the New England Patriots and whether or not they doctored footballs to gain an advantage over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game.
The Patriots are being accused of deflating the footballs to gain an unfair advantage — deflate-gate is the name the incident has been given.
Fast forward to the game between the Terriers and Bucknell, and yet another ball and air pressure issue in Massachusetts has occurred. Right before tip-off, the referees and players felt that the ball was in fact over-inflated.
Normally a non-story, but in the wake of deflate-gate, it added a bit of comic relief for New Englanders. The problem delayed tip-off, but eventually they got a regulation-inflated basketball to use.
Jones had a good laugh about the issue.
“Personally, I wouldn’t want to play with either because both are harder to control, while over-inflated balls tend to bounce more around the rim,” he said. “But whatever the weight is, it’s no problem. I’d just rather have the best available, regulation basketball.”
