Fresh off its win over Binghamton University Wednesday, the Boston University men’s basketball team could not keep the momentum going Saturday, falling to Saint Peter’s University, 70-59, at Case Gym. With the loss, the struggling Terriers, fall to 1-2 at home this season.
BU (2-5) struggled to contain senior Marvin Dominique, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, as well as the Peacocks’ (3-6) sharpshooters.
“I just think there’s been a lack of intensity, especially on the defensive end,” said BU coach Joe Jones. “I mean, they [Saint Peter’s] shot 61 percent from the floor. There’s always going be a learning curve, but not to this extent.”
Facing off against the Peacocks for the third time in three seasons, familiarity did not prove beneficial for BU, as Saint Peter’s dominated from the opening tip.
The Peacocks pulled away in the first five minutes of action, starting a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from 3-point range. The 3-point shot was key for Saint Peter’s in the first half, as they shot 53.8 percent from deep. This was highlighted by the play of Marvin, who finished with four first half 3-pointers.
Saint Peter’s had a tight defense in the first 20 minutes as well. BU finished the first half shooting only 28.6 percent from the field, including a tough 18.2 percent from long range.
For the first time in five games, sophomore guard Cedric Hankerson failed to register 20 points. The Miami native ranks in the top 15 in nine different Patriot League categories, which includes scoring, assists and steals.
“It’s a matter of effort and execution,” Jones said. “We just don’t have a general understanding of what’s going on. When you’re getting beat to balls and guys are driving the line going up for uncontested layup after uncontested layup, there’s a problem.”
The Terriers started the second half strong, but could never cut the deficit to single digits. The scoring run was highlighted by the play of junior forward Nathan Dieudonne, who did not play a single minute in the first half.
“I thought he [Dieudonne] gave us a lift in the second half in terms of his intensity,” Jones said. “He’s another guy that knows what he’s doing, and he knows kind of what we’re trying to do, so that helped us a little bit in the second half at least trying to pinch into that big lead they had at halftime.”
The 6-foot-7 forward came out in the second half, scoring eight quick points off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting. He finished the game with 10 points and six boards in only 17 minutes.
The return of Dieudonne also helped alleviate the rebounding discrepancy that was on display throughout the first half. The Terriers were out-rebounded 18 to eight in the first 20 minutes, with Saint Peter’s also collecting four offensive boards that led to 11-second chance points.
BU finished the game with 26 boards to Saint Peter’s 30 and won the offensive rebounding battle eight to six.
The Terriers outscored the Peacocks 38-29 in the second half, and in a year where the bench has struggled to be productive, sophomore guard Eric Fanning came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with a career-high 17, while grabbing seven rebounds.
After the tough loss, a defeated Jones said he needed to do a better job of getting his team to understand what it takes to win.
“We all have a stake in this, but I’m not going to just sit here and blame our players entirely for what’s going on. Some of that’s on me,” he said. “Hopefully, we can turn this thing around. We just have to try to simplify what we’re doing to take away some of the indecision that they have, and we need the buy-in from them.”
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
