Offensive struggles plague men’s basketball against Harvard

The Boston University men’s basketball team was unable to avoid its second loss in a row, as offensive woes led to a 70-56 defeat at the hands of Harvard University Monday night at Lavietes Pavilion. The Terriers now fall to 1-3 in away games this season.

After falling short to Saint Peter’s University, 70-59, at home Saturday, the Terriers (2-6) once again had a lackluster showing on offense, failing to hit the 60-point threshold for the second straight contest.

The Crimson (7-1) had no problem limiting BU to 40 percent shooting on field goals, while the Terriers struggled at the free-throw line, shooting 11-for-20, 55 percent.

Sophomore center Blaise Mbargorba led the way for the Terriers despite coming off the bench, totaling 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting, along with four rebounds and two blocks. Junior guard John Papale chipped in 10 points, while no other Terrier was able to score in double digits.

“Harvard is a terrific team,” said BU coach Joe Jones. “They’re a well coached, talented team. I thought we did some good things, we competed harder, played better together. I thought we did a good job of that.”

The Terriers kept the contest close for most of the game, as they were down by only three points with eight minutes left on the clock. However, Harvard was able to pull away, which something Jones said he hoped his squad would be able to do.

“We just needed to make more plays,” Jones said. “I thought that was a big factor in the game, along with our offensive execution. We just screwed some plays up out of the huddle, and we really pride ourselves on being a really good team out of the huddle. We just didn’t do that tonight.”

A big factor to the Terriers’ loss was a poor shooting night from sophomore guard Cedric Hankerson. After scoring over 20 points in four straight games, the offensive leader for BU was silenced. Hankerson was held to three points on only 0-for-6 shooting and 3-for-9 from the charity stripe. Despite this disappointing outing, Jones said he is not worried about his star’s play in the future.

“He isn’t going to play great every night. That’s just not happening,” he said. “There are some nights where it’s not going to be a good night. He’s a great offensive player. I thought what hurt us is when he got in foul trouble in the first half and had trouble getting into rhythm when he got back in. He’s in a new role this year, but he’ll be fine. The thing about [Cedric] is he’s a great kid. He wants to be a very good player. I love his attitude. He’ll be fine.”

While the defense for the Terriers improved, as they held the Crimson to 20-for-51 (39.2 percent) from the field, it wasn’t enough to come away with the win. Guard Wesley Saunders scored 15 points for the Crimson, including a perfect 3-for-3 from deep. Saunders also chipped in seven rebounds, tied for most on the team with guard Agunwa Okolie.

Winning the battle of the boards proved to be a struggle for the Terriers, as they were outrebounded by a 38-26 margin against Harvard.

“That really hurt us,” Jones said. “They’re big and long, and I thought our guards didn’t do well enough on long rebounds. We just didn’t do a great job on the glass.”

However, Jones also acknowledged that Monday was not a total loss for the Terriers, who play at home against Quinnipiac University Sunday.

“We’re going to get this together,” he said. “Tonight was a good step in the right direction. We did more right things. We were able to play more guys who contributed. I can feel us starting to develop. We just have to stay the course.”