The Boston University men’s basketball team ensured a winning record in non-conference play by defeating Kean University, 86-53, at Case Gym on Monday.
The Terriers (7-6) now move onto the College of the Holy Cross, which will welcome BU Wednesday for both teams’ first Patriot League contest of the year.
In the game against the Cougars (1-9), the Terriers were led by their frontcourt. Sophomore guard Nick Havener lead the team in points and rebounds with 18 and 11, respectively. Senior forward Nathan Dieudonne, who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, closely followed.
In a game where BU was missing key contributors such as sophomore guard Cheddi Mosely and freshman guard Kyle Foreman, the Terriers never trailed outside the first five minutes the game.
“Cheddi’s got a stress fracture and Kyle’s got a bone bruise, so I wanted to make sure those guys got a chance to sit before the next couple weeks,” said BU head coach Joe Jones.
The two guards currently stand as two of the Terriers’ top five scorers, and Foreman leads the team in assists with 50.
Kean started out hot when it pulled out an 8-3 lead on the Terriers, including five points from Kean forward Micah Kerr. Senior guard John Papale then took control for BU and hit back-to-back 3-pointers, which was preceded by a layup from junior guard Eric Fanning, to give the Terriers an 11-8 lead.
A major motive behind BU’s dominance was its ability to distribute the ball effectively, as 29 of the 33 field goals made were sparked by assists.
“That’s important for us. We’re a much better team when most of our baskets are being assisted on,” Jones said. “That’s how we want to play.”
Sophomore guard Eric Johnson drove this category, as he recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists. BU’s 29 assists against the Cougars were also a season high.
With several experienced Terriers on the bench, the team relied on players who seldom see minutes, such as freshman guards Kamali Chambers and Brandon Johnson. Johnson racked up 11 points, including three 3-pointers, to go along with Chambers’ six points and four assists.
“I was very happy with Brandon and Kamali getting a chance to play,” Jones said. “I thought both those guys did a good job when they were in there. It’s important we get a chance to get those guys in since they’re here everyday.”
The game got truly out of reach for the Cougars after the Terriers went on a 28-7 run to end the first half and make the score 39-18. Havener led this run and contributed 10 of his 18 points during that timeframe.
The closest BU’s Division III opponent would come the rest of the way was 20 points, with the lead finishing at 33.
An abundance of turnovers could be a deterrent to the Terriers’ Patriot League championship hopes if not held under control. Although it ended up being a comfortable lead against Kean for the Terriers, Jones said he has worries about his squad’s inability to protect the ball.
“We just turn the ball over way too much,” Jones said. “We had 12 tonight — I thought that was too many. We wanted to have 10. We had four at half [and] the second half. I think we were just too loose with the ball. We need to make better decisions, and that’s the bottom line. We know what we need to work on, and we just need to keep working on it.”
A previous version of the article said “29 of the 33 field goals made were spurned by assists.” It has been corrected to say “sparked by assists.”
Actually, it would seem that only 4 of the 33 field goals were “spurned” by assists.