For BU men’s basketball’s uniquely experienced rising sophomores, consistency is key
Kyrone Alexander, Matai Baptiste, Mike McNair and Spencer Joyner are roommates and best friends off the court. On it, they could be the difference for BU.
BOSTON – Joe Jones is typically hesitant to rely on freshmen. Last season, the head coach of BU men’s basketball didn’t have a choice.
In the opener at Northeastern, then-senior guard Miles Brewster and sophomore forwards Nico Nobili and Otto Landrum were the only players with more than 70 minutes of game action at BU.
With an absence of experience, two freshmen took full advantage of the opportunity.
Kyrone Alexander scored a team-high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. His 15 points were the most from a BU true freshman in the opener since 2016. He was the first to lead the Terriers in scoring in a season opener since 2006.
“I definitely entered with an open mind,” Alexander says. “No putting pressure on yourself, just go out there and play.”
Matai Baptiste was right behind, scoring 11 on 4-of-9 shooting and hauling in five rebounds.
Michael McNair and Spencer Joyner rounded out the group of then-freshmen, now rising sophomores, who are best friends.
They will be key to the extent of BU’s success this season.
Alexander is a candidate to be BU’s leading scorer. He’s a do-it-all wing that can score, playmake, defend, and rebound.
“He’s a pretty well-rounded, skilled basketball player,” associate head coach Mike Quinn says.
Baptiste fills a void in the frontcourt left by Anthony Morales — BU’s leading per-game scorer last season — and Nobili and Landrum, who are sidelined indefinitely. He will look to control the glass and hold his own defensively against bigger forwards.
McNair and Joyner have specialties to contribute.
McNair brings elite three-point shooting. He consistently outshoots the rest of the team in 3-point shooting drills to wrap up practices.
“He’s gonna play in every game,” Jones says. “He’s one of our best shooters.”
Joyner might be the strongest player on the roster. With that comes elite defensive traits.
“Probably our best on-the-ball defender,” says Jones.
To a certain extent, BU will go where its four rising sophomores take it. It’s probably a good thing, then, that the quartet is as close off the court as they are important on it.
“We live together, practice together. We go to the dining hall together, some of us have classes together,” says Alexander.
“We pretty much do everything together,” McNair adds.
“I see them, all three of them, as my brother,” Joyner says.
They understand each other. The struggles that come with adjusting to collegiate basketball. The ups and downs. The learning curves.
“I think that really helped us and made us closer,” says Baptiste.
It also allows them to push each other to the limit.
“We want best for each other. When we give criticism, we know it’s just to make each other better and the team better,” McNair says.
Alexander, a 6-foot-5 guard from Barbados, started all 33 games last season, averaging 9.3 points and 4.2 rebounds. He took home five Patriot League Rookie of the Week awards — the most by a Terrier since the 2007-08 season, when BU was still in the America East — and earned a spot on the All-Rookie team.
“I think the thing that stood out for him right away is just his feel for the game,” Quinn says. “He just has a pretty good sense of the game and can really pass it.
Baptiste primarily was one of Jones’ first options off the bench, starting in four of 33 matchups. He averaged 5.5 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19.5 minutes a game. On November 27, the 6-foot-7 forward earned Rookie of the Week honors after a team-high 10 points at Davidson and a career-high 13 against Division 3 VTSU Johnson.
“Matai is a guy that can impact the game in a lot of ways,” Quinn says. “He can be a really good rebounder, which he’s shown. He can guard multiple positions. Offensively, we see him as a mismatch at times.”
Baptiste has shown his ability to guard 1 through 5 in practice. He uses his added size and lateral quickness to stay in front of freshman Azmar Abdullah and force heavily contested jump shots. He uses his strength to battle down low with BU’s projected starting center Malcolm Chimezie, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior.
Offensively, Baptiste’s passing ability is overlooked. “GOOD JOB MATAI,” yells Jones after he makes a tight window pass off a wing pick-and-roll. He breaks a 2-3 zone defense by catching at the charity stripe and immediately firing a bounce pass to sophomore transfer Quinn Nielsen, who’s sealing for an angle at the block.
“That’s perfect. That’s how it’s supposed to look,” says longtime assistant coach Curtis Wilson.
McNair and Joyner, meanwhile, showed flashes last season but were resigned to more limited roles. They both averaged under three points and nine minutes per game. McNair featured in 28 of 33 games. Joyner saw action for 23 but was sidelined with a concussion at the end of the year.
Joyner’s best game came against American on Jan. 10. He totaled 12 points and made two 3s.
McNair’s came in a thrilling 72-71 victory over Lehigh on Feb. 3. He netted a game-high 21 points, connecting on 4-of-6 3s and 5-of-6 free throws in 18 minutes of action.
“I knew that whenever I go out there, I’m not gonna, you know, half-ass it,” he says of last season’s approach. “Kind of just keep a mindset like, just stay ready, even if I feel like I’m not gonna play that game.”
The key for all four in year two: consistency.
“They all had aspects of their game that we thought could translate,” Quinn says. “That doesn’t mean there weren’t going to be ups and downs throughout it, right? They were going to have their struggles as well. And I think that played out through the season.”
McNair will need to shoot the ball consistently. If he has an off-night, he must attack the glass to haul in rebounds.
When Joyner finds his opportunities, he can’t afford to take a play off.
For Baptiste, he wants to improve his three-point shooting after connecting on 27.4 percent last season.
“He’s got a lot of potential,” Jones says. “There’s a lot of ways that he can affect the game.”
Potential, however, is just potential until it is materialized.
Even for Alexander, one of BU’s most productive freshmen in recent memory, his freshman season was anything but consistent.
His season average steadily dropped to 6.7 points per game on Jan. 20 following a 10-game stretch without reaching double figures. He was 0-for-8 in a loss to UMass Lowell. He started Patriot League play with an 0-for-7 night in a loss against Navy.
“I think after one shooting game and then you get two in a row, it starts to play your mind,” Alexander says.
He worked through it. In the remaining 14 games, Alexander reached double-figures in nine.
And he believes that he’ll be better suited to deal with any rough patches this season.
“Understanding that every shot is a new shot, every game is a new game,” he says. “Just trusting all the time and effort I’ve put in to become a shooter because I know I can shoot.”
Alexander and Baptiste aren’t BU’s typical sophomores entering year two.
After a Jan. 24 loss at home to Army, frustration boiled over for Jones. BU lost 69-59 and fell to 2-5 in conference play.
“We’re in a new horizon right here trying to figure it out. We’ve never been this inexperienced,” Jones said.
“We have two freshmen lead us in scoring in a league game. Like that has never come close to happening. Never.”
Those two freshmen Jones referred to were Alexander (14 points) and Baptiste (10).
They received opportunities that Terrier freshmen typically don’t get. They’ve worked through the kinks. They’ve gone through the ups and downs. Now, they are looking to take a leap as some of BU’s most important players.
“I think having that year under our belt, that experience is super helpful,” Baptiste says. “Whenever we play, it’s like, we’ve been here before. You know what to expect.”