Overmatched is one thing. Undermanned is quite another.

The BU men’s basketball team was the latter as it dropped its fourth straight game Tuesday night, falling to the University of Rhode Island, 48-38, at Agganis Arena and likely losing sophomore guard Matt Wolff to a season-ending injury.

The loss dropped the Terriers to 0-4 for the first time in six years and marked only the sixth time in coach Dennis Wolff’s 12-year tenure that the team has lost while holding its opponent to less than 55 points – but the second time this year that it’s happened.

“We need a win bad,” said senior co-captain Kevin Gardner.

Already playing without suspended sophomore forward Tony Gaffney and injured freshman forward Ben Coblyn, the Terriers were left with only nine players after Matt Wolff went down hard under the basket seven minutes into the first half. He immediately clutched his left knee and had to be helped off the court.

Wolff returned to the bench later in the first half holding an ice pack on his knee, but was on crutches to begin the second, nursing what reportedly may be an MCL tear. Dennis Wolff said after the game that his son will not likely return this season.

Two minutes after the incident, the Rams were off and running, going on a 9-0 run to take a 16-7 lead that they would never relinquish.

The Terriers made a spirited comeback in the second half, cutting the deficit to as little as seven with just over two minutes left to play, but the club couldn’t muster any more offense, as a stingy URI defense held BU scoreless from that point on.

“They’re a good team, we knew that they were going to make a comeback,” said URI coach Jim Baron. “I told our guys that … they’re going to make a run, but we have to still be aggressive and we have to still keep our poise.”

Defense was the story of the game for the Rams, who were boosted by the return of defensive specialist Dewon Robinson from injury. URI held the Terriers to 28 percent shooting, including 22.7 percent in the first half and 15.4 percent from beyond the arc, while Robinson led the Rams in scoring with nine points.

“They played great defense. I think they forced us out of a lot of our sets and forced us to throw up some weird shots at the end of the shot clock,” said senior co-captain Shaun Wynn. “I think we’ve been getting some pretty good looks, but we haven’t been able to knock it down.”

Wynn and freshman Corey Hassan were ice cold in particular, finishing a combined 4-for-25.

“I haven’t been shooting the ball well, and Corey’s a freshman so it’s going to take him a little while to get into his groove,” Wynn said. “I think we just have to keep working at it and be persistent, not get down on ourselves.”

Wynn started the game on the bench for the first time since his sophomore season, while the Terriers experimented with a roster shakeup that put freshman Brendan Sullivan in the starting lineup. Sullivan led the Terriers in scoring on Saturday with a career-high 15 points in a loss to Rider University.

But the Terriers, according to Wolff, have been hindered by “disruptions” the past few days. One of those disruptions was Gaffney, who was suspended indefinitely before the game for violating team policy. Wolff would not comment further.

The new starting lineup could not help the Terriers’ offensive woes, as the team failed to score 50 points for the third time in four games this season. The team netted only 14 points in the first half – eight of which came from freshman Ibrahim Konate – while usual scoring threats Hassan and point guard Brian Macon were both held without a basket in the opening period.

Gardner led the Terriers with nine points and 12 rebounds in the game. The senior captain, like most of his teammates, was forced to log heavy second-half minutes, as the team dealt with its losses.

Regardless, Gardner remains optimistic about his team’s chances going forward.

“Yeah we’re 0-4 and I’m sure a lot of people have their doubts about this team,” he said.

“But no one in our locker room and no one on the coaching staff has a doubt in their mind about where this team’s gonna be at the end of the year.”