After being outscored and outmaneuvered during a three-game losing streak, the Boston University men’s basketball team may have finally found itself on the defensive side of the ball Wednesday night against the United States Naval Academy.
Against Navy (8-15, 4-7 Patriot League), the Terriers (9-13, 5-6 Patriot League) played a stifling brand of defense, holding their opponent to just 59 points in a 62-59 win.
“We’re just playing hard, and then when we get into the second half and you go to contest a shot, you just put your hand up,” said BU coach Jones. “In our ball screen defense, we try to keep the ball on the side, so now they’re turning the corner and using it. Just little things like that. I try and tell them, if you just play 10 percent harder, you’ll be that much better.”
During the three-game skid, the Terriers were giving up an average of 84 points per game, seemingly being scored upon at will.
Before Wednesday night’s contest, BU ranked eighth in the Patriot League in scoring defense, allowing 70.4 points per game, only ahead of the United States Military Academy and Lafayette College.
The first half of the game was where the Terriers really shined as the Midshipmen were held to 19 points on just 25 percent shooting. BU also forced eight turnovers on the half, including three from Navy center Will Kelly.
The latter half of the game proved to be a much more tumultuous and challenging affair for the Terriers. Navy’s offense was jumpstarted, doubling its total points from the first half with not even seven minutes gone by in the second half.
“The tempo picked up. Nobody was really hitting shots in the first half,” said sophomore guard Eric Fanning. “It was kind of slow, and it was a weird game to be watching because both teams started to score. That’s our game though. We like to get out and run, find our shooters in transition.”
Although defensive stops were few and far between for the Terriers, there were still bright spots, including a forced Navy shot clock violation with 5:49 remaining.
After Fanning hit the 3-pointer to give the Terriers the lead with six seconds remaining, the Midshipmen still had an opportunity to tie the game on the ensuing possession.
Those hopes were dashed when Fanning came down the court and blocked the shot from guard Kendall Knorr to seal the game for BU.
“Once we started playing that way, it kind of benefitted us, but on the other hand, we weren’t getting stops, and that’s the thing that Coach Jones preaches is getting stops,” Fanning said. “Luckily, [junior forward Nathan Dieudonne] and I made a huge one at the end of the game.”
One of the Terriers’ defensive schemes is a three-quarter press where freshman guard Cheddi Mosely applies pressure on the two opponent guards moving up the floor.
The move has worked as Mosely is second on the team in steals, and Jones said the freshman has a knack for the job.
“He does a good job of anticipating the pass, playing in-between the two guards at the top,” Jones said. “He’s got a good feel for that because you want to play that guy differently at different times.”
One of the areas that the Terriers also excelled in was in rebounding, as they won the board battle against Navy 29-25.
Junior forward Justin Alston had his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way.
Although the defensive difference between halves may have been large, the Terriers’ ability to generate a stop at the end of the game showed what happens when it executes properly.
“We did a great job defending in the first half, and in the second half, it’s like we don’t know what we’re doing. We don’t know how to generate stops,” Jones said. “We just don’t play with enough energy. It’s all about our defense. When we defend, we’ll be ok. When we don’t defend, we have no shot.”
