The Boston University Men’s basketball team took on Loyola University Maryland in a Patriot League matchup this Wednesday, going on to win, 92-77.
The Terriers (12-10, 6-3 Patriot League) had a huge output of offense from star senior forward Max Mahoney as they completed a season sweep of the Greyhounds (9-13, 1-8 Patriot League).
BU started off the half strong, leading 16-6 after the first five minutes of the game. Highlighted by a strong and-one layup from junior forward Sukhmail Mathon, BU appeared to be running away with the game.
Loyola promptly answered and was able to cut the game back down to four points. Junior guard Javante McCoy said after the game that BU’s defense wasn’t on the same page.
“We had a lot of breakdowns, a lot of breakdowns,” McCoy said. “I mean, we played hard, but we fouled a little bit too much, it’s just something to [keep] in mind.”
The remainder of the half consisted of small runs by each team, with Loyola hanging around within striking distance.
Greyhound senior guard Andrew Kostecka was the reason the Terriers weren’t able to feel safe in the first half. He scored 10 points including two well-timed back-to-back 3-pointers.
However, BU had an answer in Mahoney, who led the half in scoring, putting up 15, as well as six rebounds in his 15 minutes of play.
When the 20 minutes had come to an end, the Terriers held on to a 10 point lead, 44-34. However, BU head coach Joe Jones said he was unsatisfied with the team’s defensive performance.
“We weren’t locked in defensively,” Jones said. “We gave them things we shouldn’t have.”
In the second half, BU came out and attacked just as they had at the beginning of the first half. With 12 minutes remaining in the game they had pushed the lead to 20, at 72-52.
With eight minutes remaining, the Greyhounds started to quickly chip away at the 21 point deficit, eventually making the lead 10 points for the Terriers, with less than five minutes to play.
Mahoney said Loyola was easily able to get the game back within striking distance because the Terriers did not play according to their game plan.
“On the defensive end, we did not execute how we should have,” Mahoney said. “We didn’t play how we wanted to play … in the future, we’d like to focus on doing more defensively.”
Ultimately, BU was able to hang onto the win without too much need for stress, but the coaching staff and team were unsatisfied and saw extreme room for improvement.
The team leaned heavily on McCoy and Mahoney for the majority of the game, as they scored a combined 53 points. Sophomore guard Jonas Harper added 14 points, with nine coming in the second half.
“We had too many guys walk into the game not ready to play,” Jones said. We weren’t a team tonight, it’s not what we’ve been.”
Despite the frustrated tone from the coach and players, the Terriers’ victory moved them up to second in the Patriot League standings, now tied with both Navy and American University. The current one seed and reigning Patriot League champion, Colgate University, fell tonight, leaving the door open for a late-season push for the three second place teams..
Bucknell University (9-13, 5-4 Patriot League) is next on the agenda for BU. The Terriers will visit Lewisburg, Pennsylvania on Saturday at 2 p.m. to take on the Bison.
Jones said tough games happen, but the real test is how the team can come back from a rough performance.
“You’re going to have some nights like this where you’re not ready to go,” Jones said. “It’s how you bounce back, it’s how you handle these types of situations.”
