Instant takeaways from BU men's basketball's 71-63 home win over Army
Mike McNair (17 points) led the Terriers, but BU couldn't have won without significant contributions from Ben Palacios and Ben Roy.
Three instant takeaways from the Boston University men’s basketball team’s 71-63 win over Army at Case Gym on Sunday afternoon, the Terriers’ first victory in Patriot League play after a road loss to Lafayette on Thursday…
BU’s bench guards stepped up to deliver one of the best offensive halves of the season.
In the first half, the Terriers (7-8, 1-1 Patriot League) had eight turnovers and struggled to get the ball to their bigs inside. Malcolm Chimezie had four points on a layup and a dunk. Otto Landrum only took one shot: his first made 3-pointer of the season. Ben Defty and Nico Nobili did not register a shot attempt.
Still, BU scored 40 points in the opening 20 minutes, its third-highest first-half mark this season, on 17-of-25 shooting. And it wasn’t the usual suspects (sophomores Kyrone Alexander and Mike McNair) delivering the first-half guard scoring. Alexander and McNair each scored five points.
Instead, it was the Ben’s. Senior Ben Palacios and junior Ben Roy. Palacios, averaging 5.6 points per game, scored a team-high 10 in the opening half on 4-of-5 shooting. Roy, whose previous season high was four points, had nine at the break. Both guards penetrated into the middle of the lane for layups and floaters while Army’s bigs looked reluctant to help off their assignments. Roy also drilled a rare 3 in front of Army’s bench to put BU ahead 35-33, its first lead since a 9-8 early advantage.
In the second half, Mike McNair delivered the timely baskets BU needed.
Second-half scoring was much tougher to come by than in the opening frame. With seven minutes remaining, BU had only made 1 of its last 13 field goals. But Mike McNair thrived, drilling three 3-pointers early in the frame.
McNair nailed a corner 3 on the first possession of the half. He hid behind a screen and connected on another 3 minutes later, BU’s second basket of the half. Those two 3s sparked a 10-3 run to begin the second half.
Army (6-8, 0-2 Patriot League) responded with a 9-0 run, cutting the BU lead to three, 50-47. Before the Black Knights could find a tying basket or further cut into the lead, McNair responded with a straightaway 3 to put BU up by six.
And with just over five minutes remaining, leading 56-53, graduate guard Miles Brewster pushed the pace in transition and dished to an open McNair on the right wing. McNair buried the 3 and the Terriers took a crucial two-possession advantage.
McNair finished with a team-high 17 points.
BU’s defense delivered in the second half.
Despite BU’s first-half outburst on offense (40 points on 68 percent shooting), the Black Knights only trailed by five at the break. Army shot 46.7 percent in the opening frame and were 5 of 11 from deep.
In the second half, however, Army was limited to 34.5 percent shooting (10 for 29) and 6 for 15 from 3. Midway through the frame, the Black Knights were held scoreless for close to six and a half minutes. It took sophomore guard Ryan Curry's bomb from the “U” in the BU midcourt logo to end the drought.
The Terriers also held Jalen Rucker, the Patriot League’s leading scorer, to 7 of 18 shooting and never allowed him to fully get going in a tight defensive battle late.