The Boston University men’s basketball team will look for its first win of the season on the road Wednesday night against non-conference opponent Norfolk State University. This is the first of a three-game road trip for the Terriers.
BU (0-1) comes into this game after dropping its season opener to crosstown rival Northeastern University at the TD Garden by a score of 71-65 Sunday afternoon. The close contest has been characteristic of meetings between these two teams, as the six-point game marked the eighth-straight BU-Northeastern (1-0) contest decided by eight points or less.
Despite the season-opening loss, BU had three players in double figures, only committed eight turnovers and kept the Colonial Athletic Association preseason favorite Huskies at bay for most of the game.
“I was very pleased with the way that we played for most of the game,” said BU coach Joe Jones. “I felt we controlled play for probably 30 minutes out of the 40, but down the stretch, their experience rang true.”
The Terriers also saw the emergence of sophomore guard Cedric Hankerson. In his first career start, the 6-foot-5-inch player made an immediate impact, tallying a team-high 15 points, five boards and career-high six assists on the game.
Without their top three scorers from last season, the Terriers will look for contributions from younger players like Hankerson to lead the team on both sides of the ball.
“I think the biggest thing for us is guys like [junior guard] John Papale, [junior forward Nathan] Dieudonne and [junior forward] Justin Alston need to be leaders in those tough moments,” Jones said. “We’ve leaned on guys like Cedric Hankerson and even [sophomore guard Cameron] Curry.
“Those are the guys that have to be the vocal leaders out there, keeping things positive, and we feel that it’s just a matter of time before we can put it all together.”
Papale took to this leadership role well in the tilt against Northeastern with an 11-point, six assist and five rebound effort.
Wednesday’s matchup should prove to be an interesting game as the two non-conference teams with similarly revamped rosters will look to gain some momentum in the early part of the season.
“It’s probably going to be a very close game,” Jones said. “The big thing for us will be learning how to win and make plays down the stretch.”
The Spartans (1-1) of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference have a bunch of fresh faces this year as well, as the team will look to compensate for the loss of a strong senior class that accounted for about 80 percent of the squad’s scoring last year.
However, with an athletic set of newcomers, a few key returning contributors and a lot of depth on paper, Norfolk State seems to be on the right track.
Redshirt senior Jamel Fuentes will be counted on to anchor the backcourt this season after averaging six points, 4.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game last year. The Spartans will also look to forward RaShid Gaston for leadership as well. The 6-foot-9-inch bruiser is healthy and ready to step up after missing almost two months last season to injury.
Reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week Devonte Banner is one of the younger players who is expected to take on some of the scoring duties. In NSU’s first two games, he went 4-of-8 from the field and tallied 12 points, six assists, three boards and two steals.
Wednesday’s game will also see the Terriers face off against an old teammate in redshirt senior Malik Thomas, who transferred from BU in April. Thomas is third in scoring for Norfolk at 8.5 points per game, but is shooting just a little over 23 percent from the field.
The Spartans are coming off a 67-39 loss at the hands of No. 9 University of Virginia on Sunday.
The Terriers will look to get their season moving in the right direction, and getting the new players on the roster to gel together as a group should be a key component.
“We’re better than what people think,” Jones said. “We just need to get consistent. It’s a process, but you can’t cheat the process — you have to go through it. Every night we go out, we’re just trying to learn and get better, and as we’re learning, hopefully we can win some games.”
Nick Neville is a junior in COM studying journalism and the Sports Editor of the Daily Free Press. When he's not making a paper on Beacon Street, you can catch him working as a Sports Correspondent for the Boston Globe or helping to produce BU's only professional sports talk show, Offsides. Follow him on Twitter: @n_nebs95
