The Boston University men’s basketball team dropped one of their West Coast matchups this season after falling to the University of San Diego 74-60 on Friday night.
In a tale of two halves, the Terriers (0-2) kept pace with the Toreros (1-1) until they entered half-time only down 4 points, 34-30. But in the second frame, USD turned up the heat and pulled away to record their first win of the season.
BU head coach Joe Jones said the team’s talent can turn around this early lack of success.
“I have to take responsibility for how we played,” Jones said. “I’ve got to do a better job of getting these guys ready to go, but we’ve got good enough players.”
Toreros star and junior guard Kjay Bradley Jr. posed problems for the Terrier defense all night. He started the game on a heater, scoring 14 of USD’s first 17 points, and finished the game leading all scorers with 28 points.
Twice in the first half, Bradley helped his team build a lead after they strung together consecutive buckets. But BU rebounded after trailing 7 points, cutting the deficit to two buckets after senior guard Ben Palacios swished in a triple. In his first action this year, he finished with a team-high 15 points coming off the bench.
“[Palacios] was a bright spot for us offensively,” Jones said. “He was a guy that probably hadn’t played himself into the rotation but did a really good job and was ready to go tonight.”
During the second half, the Terriers came out of the locker room strong. But as the tide shifted in favor of the away side, the Toreros again took control of the game.
A decisive 15-0 run gave USD a 49-32 lead, and from there, they kept BU at bay until the final whistle.
With a mix of good shot-making and smart shot-taking, USD’s 47.5% field goal percentage made this an exhausting game for the Terriers. A lack of size compared to their opponents also did not make things easier.
“They are longer and more athletic,” Jones said. “But we were going to have to shoot the ball better and be tougher mentally to play … I didn’t think we were tough enough.”
Looking at the positives, BU junior forward Nico Nobili made his season debut last night. After a shoulder injury sidelined him against Northeastern, Nobili saw a familiar role of playing point-forward, dishing out three assists.
In arguably their toughest game this year, the Terriers must shift gears and bring the heat to the University of California in Los Angeles on Monday night.
“[UCLA will] present a lot of challenges for us,” Jones said. “But hopefully, we can use the game against Northeastern and … San Diego to put us in a place where we’re ready to go and play better basketball.”
