On Saturday, the Boston University men’s basketball team (1-1) breezed past The State University of New York Polytechnic Institute (0-1), racking up 91 points compared to the Wildcats’ 63.
There was dominance in many areas for the Terriers, but the first few minutes were a slow start for the team. They quickly found themselves down 11-4 as Wildcat Josh Gregory started the night 3-3 from the field to deliver a quick seven points for SUNY Poly.
The momentum rapidly shifted in the remainder of the first half as the Terriers took over with a 28-3 run. Walter Whyte contributed 16 points by the end of the first half, including a vicious dunk after quickly elevating over other players heads.
Another bright spot for the Terriers was Andrew Petcash, who finished the half with nine points off of three much needed three pointers. These two, in combination with excellent play from fellow Terriers turned the tide and gave BU a 51-25 lead by the end of the half.
After the break, the Wildcats never recovered. SUNY Poly never got within less than 20 points in the half, but the Terriers didn’t dominate either. The second half was much more evenly played, as the teams traded buckets for 20 minutes. BU only outscored the opponents by two points.
Head coach Joe Jones commented on the lack of aggressiveness and consistency in the second half, and at times during the first.
“We played well, we played focus maybe for half the game,” Jones said. “I thought the other half we didn’t play with focus, we didn’t play as hard, we were very sporadic throughout the game. Different times in the game I thought we got it going defensively but overall we weren’t consistent.”
Although there were inconsistencies in the game, there were still several positive takeaways from the game. One of these was sophomore Walter Whyte, who scored a career high 23 points for the second game in a row, this time in only 24 minutes.
“It feels amazing,” Whyte said. “I’m just so happy to be playing again and being with my teammates and having a great time. It’s what I love to do so I’m excited every time I step on the court.”
The Terriers saw an abundance of scoring from other key players, too. Seven players scored eight points or more, including 12 from Mahoney and Mathon and 11 from Petcash.
BU is looking forward to the remainder of the season and to see how far they can really go. As Jones stated, it’s a team with a lot of potential and Whyte still thinks his game can still take another leap this year.
“I feel like there’s another level,” Whyte said. “You know, I’m not there yet, 100 percent. Physically, I am but like mentally there’s still kind of steps to getting back to where you used to be.”
The next game will be more of a test for the Terriers as they hit the road to take on the University of Vermont on Wednesday. Vermont is currently undefeated as they won their first matchup narrowly against St. Bonaventure University.
“There is no doubt, it’s going to be a great environment to play in,” Whyte said.
