BU men’s basketball is clearly a good team. After overtime win over UAlbany, it just needs to keep playing like it
The Terriers secured their best win of the season against a good opponent. But where was this version of BU last time out?
BOSTON — The question Joe Jones must answer now, after what he called “the best win of the year” on Saturday over UAlbany, is simple: How can he get this Boston University men’s basketball team to keep playing like that?
It’s early; BU is still over a month from the conference slate and the games that actually matter. But in their thrilling, grind-it-out, 80-74 overtime victory over the Great Danes at Case Gym, the Terriers reminded everyone they’ve got special potential. BU was confident, it was bought in, it got critical contributions up and down the lineup, and against an opponent Jones said was more athletic than his team, it willed itself to a comeback victory. The Terriers were voted the Patriot League’s third-best team in the preseason and made those voters look real good on Saturday.
They played like a team capable of making the NCAA tournament.
The problem, which Jones identified after the game, is that BU has not figured out how to do all of it consistently.
“We are always better,” the head coach said over a chuckle, “after a defeat.”
That also means the Terriers (4-5) are always worse after a win. They’ve only strung together consecutive victories once this season, something that plagued this group until mid-February last year. So while BU’s fight Saturday was no doubt moving, it was equally frustrating — because none of it was on display here only six days before in a deflating 73-65 defeat to Sacred Heart. After that loss, Jones said BU let its two wins a weekend prior “impact” its preparation during the week, saying he wasn’t surprised by the outcome because his team “wasn’t locked in the way you need to be locked in.”
But this week?
“We had two practices that were much better,” Jones said. And go figure: “a lot if it was because we lost to Sacred Heart.”
No surprise, then, that BU wound up defeating a really, really capable team. This is the plight for Jones and BU right now. They, too, are a really, really capable team, they just only play like it — and prepare like it — 50 percent of the time.
“We haven’t really had the best season,” senior forward Malcolm Chimezie admitted, “in terms of practicing hard every day.”
So why is that? The answer still seems to elude them — Chimezie said it’s “hard to say,” and Jones added, “we’ve got to figure that out.” But part of it is health, a point raised by sophomore guard Kyrone Alexander and re-affirmed by Jones. BU’s been ravaged by injuries, starting in the offseason. Forward Otto Landrum, one half of BU’s starting tandem in the post last season, returned from a fractured ankle on Saturday, but the other half — fellow junior Nico Nobili — sat out with a shoulder injury that’s been bothering him all year. Starting senior guard Ethan Okwuosa remains out with a knee injury, sophomore guard Spencer Joyner hasn’t appeared all season, and even Alexander himself, who’s played every game this year, wasn’t able to fully practice until just before the season as he recovered from a broken foot.
“In terms of rotation of bodies, obviously… it’s definitely harder, definitely more difficult,” Alexander said when asked if the injuries have affected BU’s ability to practice consistently. “So that also plays a part.”
Yet Alexander was quick to clarify: “Not a major part, because at the end of the day… whoever steps up is capable.”
Sure, BU was without Nobili on Saturday and Landrum only played 10 minutes, but Chimezie and freshman forward Ben Defty did just fine in their place. The two combined for 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting and 9 rebounds, while Chimezie blocked a career-high seven shots, dished out a career-high five assists and, as BU trailed by two with 36 seconds left in regulation, calmly drained a hook shot to send the game to overtime.
“When you play Malcom one-on-one,” Jones said, “he’s a load. He’s tough.”
A starter for the first time in his career, the senior is averaging 7.6 points per game and is shooting over 50 percent from the field. UAlbany had no answer for him, or for Defty, in the post.
“Four years, man, I’ve gotten a lot better,” Chimezie said. “When I get the ball there, I’m pretty confident in my abilities.”
An eerily similar situation is playing out in BU’s backcourt, where sophomore guard Mike McNair is breaking out in the midst of Okwuosa’s injury. On Saturday, McNair reached double figures for the third time in four games, scoring 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Leading by one with half a minute to go in overtime, McNair drained an open corner 3 to sink the dagger for BU.
He’s always been a dangerous shooter, but in his first collegiate starts this season, he’s developed into an all-around offensive weapon. McNair attacked the basket throughout the first half and finished with multiple outrageous up-and-under moves through traffic. His 9.3 points per game are third on the team.
“Mike’s a bucket,” Chimezie said.
Added Alexander: “There was never a lack of talent from day one coming in as a freshman. He’s always been capable of having those types of finishes and moves.”
BU, demonstrably, has the depth to handle its injuries. Would a fully healthy Nobili, Landrum, Okwuosa and Joyner help? Of course. But that doesn’t feel like the reason behind BU’s inconsistency, because ultimately, the group of players out there has shown what it can do without them. These Great Danes (6-4) were fresh off a 15-point win over Columbia, an Ivy League power that was receiving Top-25 AP votes earlier this year.
“It’s not an excuse,” Alexander said of the injuries.
And Alexander, by the way? He dropped a career-high 26 points on Saturday, almost single-handedly kept BU in the game down the stretch of the second half and is now averaging 14.0 points per game. It feels like he’s preparing to build a legitimate All-Patriot League first team case.
“Sometimes you don’t realize how good he is until you start looking at the stats,” Jones said.
Point is — BU’s got everything it needs to make a serious run. And it’s known that for a while now. It’s not a matter of confidence — the Terriers believe they’re really good, and got even more affirmation on Saturday.
“Obviously,” Chimezie said, “the team’s capable of putting along a win streak.”
But they haven’t done it yet. And the reality is that, if BU wants to win a Patriot League championship, it needs to play like it did on Saturday, game in and game out.
“We have to be able to now go into Monday and be ready to go,” Jones said. “It’s not about the opponents, it’s about how we’re going to prepare. We have to start to consistently playing at that level.”
It sounds so simple. Now Boston University men’s basketball just needs to go out and do it.
