Men’s schedule begins to lighten, but not much

Fighting and clawing its way through a brutal schedule that ranks among the best in the nation, the Boston University men’s basketball team has struggled to an 0-5 start over the season’s first three weeks, seemingly holding its breath every step of the way.

It’s finally time to exhale.

Things get easier tonight – if only slightly – as the Terriers return home to take on Harvard University at 7 p.m. at Case Gymnasium, before finally opening their America East schedule against the University of New Hampshire on Thursday. Tonight’s game marks the first contest at The Roof this year, with the team’s previous two home contests having been held at Agganis Arena.

Not that Harvard will present much less of a challenge. The Crimson sit tied atop the Ivy League with a 5-1 record, having lost their first game of the year Saturday to Central Connecticut State University.

The Terriers, meanwhile, remain winless, despite a much-improved offensive performance against 19th-ranked George Washington University on Friday. Falling, 75-62, to the Colonials despite opening the game on a 12-3 run, BU now looks to Harvard as its last chance to snap out of its early-season funk before conference play begins.

“We’re going into it with a sense of urgency and desperation,” said BU coach Dennis Wolff. “We need a win right now.”

The Terriers will once again be playing shorthanded, however, as freshman forward Ben Coblyn will likely miss his fourth straight contest with a high ankle sprain and is questionable for Thursday’s game against UNH.

“He has the type of injury that we have to be careful with,” Wolff said. “It’s just about healed, and it’s the type of thing that can linger all season. We can’t have that.”

Coblyn joins sophomore guard Matt Wolff – who is out for the year with a torn MCL and a partially torn ACL – on the injury list, while sophomore forward Tony Gaffney remains suspended indefinitely for violating team policy. The losses once again leave the Terriers with a nine-man roster going into tonight’s game, after going into the season with 13.

Regardless, Wolff stressed the importance of continuing to compete despite the team’s struggles.

“There’s no magic formula here,” Wolff said. “You can’t predict injuries. There are periodically things that are going to throw a monkey wrench into the best plans … it’s not always going to be perfect.”

Harvard presents a new challenge for the Terriers, whose depleted frontcourt will have to deal with the inside presences of Matt Stehle and Brian Cusworth. The duo is averaging a combined 26.4 points and 15.7 rebounds a game and is joined by fellow double-digit scorers Jim Goffredo and Drew Housman in the backcourt to provide a balanced attack.

BU will be looking to counter by working the ball inside to leading scorer Kevin Gardner, and in doing so, hope to open up shots for guards Shaun Wynn and Corey Hassan from the perimeter.

In employing that strategy Friday, BU was able to score over 60 points for only the second time all year. Wynn led the Terriers with 18 points, coming entirely on 6-of-8 shooting from behind the arc.

“I thought we had some of the best offensive possessions of the year the other night against [George Washington],” Wolff said. “I thought we had way better balance in regard to the shot attempts, which got us better offensive positions.”

That improvement, coupled with the early strength of the Terriers’ schedule, has the team optimistic, despite its 0-5 record. A USA Today poll released Monday ranked BU seventh in the nation in strength of schedule after its first five games, which constituted arguably the toughest stretch in BU history.

Wolff remains confident that his young team can turn its season around.

“We’re not going to allow anybody to get down and start feeling sorry for ourselves,” Wolff said. “We’ve had some tough breaks and we’ve played good teams … we just have to keep trying to plow forward.”