The Boston University men’s basketball team had a night to forget Wednesday as it fell on the road to a hot-shooting University of Massachusetts Amherst side, 99-69.
The Minutemen (5-1), led by five players in double-figures, took off midway through the first half and opened up a 28-point halftime lead from which they would never look back.
The Terriers (3-4), on the other hand, were without injured starting freshman point guard Kyle Foreman in the final game of a five-game road trip, but BU coach Joe Jones offered no excuses.
“We have to consistently work harder,” he said. “Our attention to detail has to be better. We all — every coach, every player — need to give more than what we’re giving on a consistent basis. We’ve been inconsistent with our effort and our focus and tonight it showed.”
BU did keep up with the fast-paced UMass offense to start the game and sophomore guard Cheddi Mosely tied things up at 12 apiece with 14:05 left in the half. However, the UMass guards then took over, using an 11-point run to put the Terriers away for good.
Sophomore point guard Eric Johnson never found a consistent rhythm against the Minutemen’s pressing defense, while senior guard John Papale went 0-for-6 in the first half.
Meanwhile, the Minutemen connected on every type of shot — midrange jumpers, contested 3-pointers, driving layups and putback baskets — in the first frame, shooting near 70 percent from the field and going 9-of-12 from behind the arc. Seniors Jabarie Hinds and Trey Davis each dropped 14 points in the first frame.
“Their strength is the ability to make plays for themselves and their guards,” Jones said. “They scored playing 1-on-1 or using ball screen action. They were really effective against us.
“If they’re drivers and they don’t shoot it great, you can defend that,” he added. “If they’re shooters, but don’t drive it great, you can defend that. But, they have the ability to drive it and shoot it and that’s what made it so hard for us to contain their guards.”
Meanwhile, senior forward Justin Alston proved to be the most consistent source of offense for the Terriers as BU’s shooters struggled. He scored eight of his 13 points in the opening half. As a team, the Terriers shot just over 30 percent from the field in the first frame, went 4-of-14 from behind the arc and were outrebounded by nine.
“We knew the way they played, they’re going to press a little bit and make you play faster,” Jones said. “We got some open shots that we would normally make. We didn’t make them. Tonight, the only way that we were going to stay with them was by making more shots because we couldn’t defend.”
The second half was a more even affair but it was too little, too late.
“We need to play with that kind of attitude for 40 minutes,” he said. “Maybe you come up short, but you gave great effort. I didn’t think we really competed tonight. It’s not about the wins and losses. It’s about how you approach games and how hard you play and tonight we didn’t do that.”
Still, the blowout loss did show some signs of hope for the future as BU’s two leading scorers from the 2014-15 campaign each saw court for the first time this season.
Junior guard Cedric Hankerson, who suffered an ACL injury in April, made his return to the floor midway through the first half. Playing a limited 12 minutes, Hankerson ended the night with 10 points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 shooting from downtown.
“Cedric worked his tail off to get back,” Jones said. “He’s had a lot of people care for him so he could get in a place where he could get back. I was just happy to see him out there playing. It’s been a long time coming. He did a nice job in the minutes he was in.”
Junior guard Eric Fanning, who had been suspended from game action, also earned his first minutes of court time late in the final five minutes of the contest. He had a block and hit a 3-pointer on BU’s last possession of the night.
Moving forward, with a rivalry matchup against Harvard University set for Tuesday and Patriot League play on the horizon, Jones said he hopes this game will serve as an important lesson for the Terriers.
“It starts every day,” he said. “We all need to do a better job. … We’re all in this together through the losses and the wins. We need to find a way to work through these types of things. It’s a long season, these types of games are going to happen. … I’ve got to make sure we’re learning from this game, so we can get better.”
Jackie is a sports reporter for The Daily Free Press and has previously served as Managing Editor and Associate Sports Editor of the FreeP. At this moment, she's probably watching Shark Tank and thinking of ways to work, "and for that reason, I'm out," into casual conversations. Please send all inquiries in the form of a box combo from Cane's with no coleslaw and extra fries or follow her on Twitter at @jackie_bam
