Fresh off a thrilling buzzer-beating win and an appearance on SportsCenter, the Boston University men’s basketball team will try and keep the momentum going when it travels to the United States Naval Academy Wednesday night.
The Midshipmen (16-7, 7-3 Patriot League), who sit second in the conference standings, handily downed the Terriers (12-11, 5-5 Patriot League) 83-67 in their first encounter of the season at Case Gym on Jan. 6. Navy shot over 50 percent from the field in the game while holding BU to 41.5 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from behind the arc. Five different Midshipmen reached double figures.
However, head coach Joe Jones’ squad was playing without sophomore guard Cheddi Mosely, and freshman point guard Kyle Foreman had yet to fully recover from an ankle injury.
“At that point, I just didn’t think we were playing hard enough,” Jones said. “I just didn’t think we were competing. It just felt like we were a step behind … That’s the mark of an inexperienced team. It’s hard to play hard when you’re a step behind, and we’ve seemed to grasp that.”
This time around, Navy will be playing its third game in five days. The Midshipmen fell to the College of the Holy Cross in overtime on Saturday and took down the United States Military Academy Monday night.
Navy averages just 66.4 points per game, as head coach Ed DeChellis prefers his team to play a slower, more deliberate game and work for high-percentage shots. But last timeout against BU, DeChellis made a point to push the pace in an attempt to wear down the injury-laden Terriers.
“The thing that we’ve got to be able to do is make sure that if they push it, we can’t let them get transition baskets,” Jones said. “If we’re giving up transition baskets, we’re in trouble … When they’re making transition baskets, that means open threes and lay-ups.”
Navy has nine players averaging over 10 minutes of playing time per contest, while the Terriers are down to a seven-man rotation. After BU battled back from a 21-5 deficit back in January, it was Navy’s depth that allowed the Midshipmen to pull away in the second half.
“We have got to get out to a good start,” Jones said. “We’ve got to. That’s the first thing that I’m saying to the guys is we have got to start the game better. I think our guys are aware of that. And then we’ve got to be able to maintain some consistency throughout the game. I’m optimistic that we’ll come out and do what we need to do.”
Another area in which the Midshipmen shine is on the glass. Navy owns the league’s best rebounding margin at plus-5.2 despite not having a single player among the conference’s top-10 rebounders.
“They go after it,” Jones said. “They go hard. If you beat them, you’ve beaten them because they’ve played as tough or tougher. We’re not winning this game because we’re going to make a lot of shots and win the game. That’s not going to happen. They’re going to play with toughness, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready to go.”
Jones said he likes the direction his team is headed in and said he is excited for the challenge that Navy brings.
“They’re a good team,” he said. “They play very hard. They play with a lot of confidence. They’re not going to beat themselves. That’s kind of what you want. It’s not supposed to be easy. I feel good about where we’re headed right now at this moment. That’s what you want as a coach.”
Jackie is a sports reporter for The Daily Free Press and has previously served as Managing Editor and Associate Sports Editor of the FreeP. At this moment, she's probably watching Shark Tank and thinking of ways to work, "and for that reason, I'm out," into casual conversations. Please send all inquiries in the form of a box combo from Cane's with no coleslaw and extra fries or follow her on Twitter at @jackie_bam
