Men’s basketball draws former America East foe Albany

Just three days after opening its season against crosstown rival Northeastern University, the Boston University men’s basketball team will face another side fresh off an NCAA Tournament appearance Monday when it takes on the State University of New York at Albany.

The game between the two former America East conference foes is part of the 2015 edition of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Classic.

While the Great Danes (0-1) are missing their leading scorer from the 2014-15 campaign in forward Sam Rowley, Albany returns plenty of offensive firepower in guards Peter Hooley and Evan Singletary, who both averaged near 13 points per game last season.

“Albany, they present a lot of issues,” said BU (0-1) coach Joe Jones. “They’re well coached. They’re used to winning. Their perimeter is absolutely outstanding. We probably won’t face many teams that have the 3-guards at the caliber of the players that these guys are … We have our hands full, but our guys are excited for the challenge.”

Hooley gave the Great Danes their third-consecutive conference title and fifth NCAA Tournament berth when he drained a game-winning 3-pointer to edge out Stony Brook University in the America East Tournament final. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the No. 14 seed Great Danes nearly held on against the No. 3 seed University of Oklahoma, but fell 69-60.

After his defense allowed Northeastern (1-0) guard David Walker to drop 27 points in Friday’s 87-84 overtime loss to the Huskies, Jones is wary of letting the Great Dane guards get hot.

“David Walker made some great individual basketball plays and they have at least three guys that can get it going in that fashion,” Jones said. “The big thing for us is, as a team, we have to make sure we’re in the right position off the ball and then we have to do a better job of individual defense on guarding guys off the bounce. That’s going to be big in this game.”

In their season opener Friday, the Great Danes battled with the No. 2 University of Kentucky and suffered a 78-65 loss. While Albany coach Will Brown’s side fought to cut the deficit to 12 with 2:26 remaining and forced 20 turnovers from last season’s national semifinalists, the Great Danes could not find an answer for a dominant Wildcat (2-0) offense, led by freshman Jamal Murray, that went 15-for-22 from the floor in the second half.

Normally a solid shooting team themselves, the Great Danes struggled against Kentucky’s press, as they only put up four assists on the night. This led to a 43.1 field goal percentage and a 1-of-14 performance from beyond the arc. Hooley topped the team with 18 points.

Although the Terriers dropped their own season opener, Jones said he took several positives from the game and is hoping his team displays the same kind of mentality as when it took on its crosstown foe in front of a near-capacity Case Gym crowd.

“We can’t be geared up just because it’s Northeastern on a Friday night and we have a great fan base,” Jones said. “We have to play with the same kind of fire we played with. That’s what I’m looking for is how we handle the game from a mental state and how emotionally invested we are from start to finish. If we do that, we’ll put ourselves in a position to win, but that has to come first.”

Monday’s game is also of particular importance as it is the Terriers’ last contest before they embark on a tough road swing that will see them play five games in five different states.

“This is a big one for us because you want to have a chance to win your home games,” Jones said. “Before we take this long trip, we’d like to have a ‘W’ on our belts to get some confidence and get going in the right direction.”