Men’s Basketball falls to NJIT, drops first road contest

The Boston University men’s basketball team started off their five-game road trip on the wrong foot, as it dropped Thursday’s contest to the New Jersey Institute of Technology by a score of 90-76 at the Fleisher Athletic Center in Newark, New Jersey.

In their first ever meeting with the Highlanders (2-1), the Terriers (1-2) started off hot before falling off late in the first half, and were unable to overcome the deficit in the second. Senior guard John Papale led the way for BU, totaling 21 points and hitting five 3-point field goals. Freshman guard Kyle Foreman scored 17 points and dished seven assists in 34 minutes of play.

Yet the Terriers were no match for the Highlanders, who were simply too much to handle on the offensive side of the ball. NJIT had four players score at least 17 points tonight, with guard Ky Howard leading the way with 20. He shot 7-of-11 from the field and connected on both of his 3-point shot attempts. New Jersey also outscored Boston in the paint by a whopping 38-10.

“I thought we struggled on the road,” BU coach Joe Jones said. “Just being on the road for the first time, I didn’t think we handled ourselves particularly well. We allowed the referee’s calls and missed shots and individual mistakes to kind of hurt our guys, I thought that was a major factor.”

Jones also pointed out that his team struggled with shooting, and that created an insurmountable gap in the end.

“Then we were 10-for-22 from the foul line,” he said. “It’s hard to win a game against a quality opponent on the road when you’re shooting that poorly from the foul line. We got to stay mentally strong, I think that was the main factor. Going into the next game, we have to make our foul shots, and we have to stay mentally tough.”

The game started off in favor of the Terriers, as they were able to steadily build a 19-13 lead after the first seven minutes of play. They were led by Foreman, who contributed seven points and four assists in the first half.

However, it would not be long before the Highlanders took all of the momentum. At halftime, the Highlanders led 38-31. The main issue that struck BU during the run was turnovers, as they gave the ball away 10 times in the first half. According to Jones, there were many mental errors.

“I thought we made a lot of mental mistakes, and I felt we held our heads down,” he said. “That’s the thing I was most concerned about, holding our heads down. We got to be able to stay positive and stay together in those times. You play a basketball game, you’re going to have some adversity. We have to be able to handle adversity.”

Things remained the same early in the second half, as NJIT extended their lead. Then, the Terriers finally came alive and Papale led the way, hitting several 3-point shots to pull the Terriers closer.

NJIT heated up from behind the 3-point line as well, and pulled away from BU as time winded down. With 3:28 left in the game, the Highlanders pushed their lead to 81-66, creating a margin too large for BU to overcome. By then, the Terriers needed a miracle in order to make the game competitive again, and their prayers weren’t answered.

Jones said he noticed that his team’s usually staunch defense was not at the same level it usually is during the game.

“We struggled to guard tonight,” he said. “I think we didn’t play with enough toughness that we could to dictate the game defensively, because they were really competing a lot harder than we did tonight. Anytime you give up that many points, that’s a bad sign for your team.”