Instant takeaways from BU men's basketball's 87-65 win over Navy

Powered by Miles Brewster, the Terriers rolled to their best offensive performance of conference play.

Photo by Eliza Nuestro/BU Athletics.

BOSTON — The Boston University men’s basketball team entered its matchup with Navy as the Patriot League’s lowest-scoring team. 

During conference play, BU is six points per game behind the next worst: Lafayette. And the last time the Terriers played Navy, on Jan. 22, they scored just 47 total points. 

None of it would have been evident on Wednesday night. 

BU got off to a dominant offensive start and never looked back, defeating Navy, 87-65, at Case Gym. BU’s 87 points were the most it’s scored against a Divison I opponent this season.

Here are three takeaways from the win, BU’s eighth straight at home…

BU had arguably its best offensive showing of the season.

Ben Defty caught a pass at the free-throw line from junior forward Otto Landrum. The freshman forward sunk the midrange jumper with zero hesitation. Navy head coach Ed DeChellis was forced to call timeout, with his team down by 14 and reeling from BU’s 12-0 run. 

That timeout came just under nine minutes into the contest. BU was already at 25 points and had made 11 of 13 field goals — 84.6 percent. In addition, the Terriers had only committed one turnover. 

That 84.6 percent start didn’t just come from hot shooting, either. BU was 3 for 3 from deep and 8 of 10 from inside the arc. The Terriers got into the paint on almost all, if not all, of those early possessions, which set up shots inside or open kick-out 3s.

The Terriers slowed down offensively the rest of the first half and took a 39-32 lead into the break. But BU’s second-half offense looked just as potent as it did early in the first. 

Navy tried man defense, zone and even a full-court press. None of it was able to slow down the Terriers.

BU outscored Navy 40-14 in the paint, shot 60 percent from the field and was 12 for 23 from 3, largely resulting from the initial penetration — and some excellent shooting from BU’s guards. Speaking of…

Miles Brewster played his best game of the season. Mike McNair was brilliant, too. 

Graduate guard Miles Brewster is the heart and soul of BU men’s basketball. He led BU in scoring last season and was one of the best team captains head coach Joe Jones had ever seen. It was no surprise, then, that he was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team. However, Brewster has had up-and-down performances, at least offensively, this season. None of that up-and-down showed on Wednesday. 

Brewster finished with a career-high 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting. He added 5 rebounds and a tied team-high 5 assists. In the first half, he was a perfect 6 for 6 from the field.

Just under seven minutes into the first half, the Terriers failed to set up their play properly. It didn’t matter. Brewster called Defty over for a high-ball screen and stepped into a deep straightaway 3. When Navy tried to full-court press, Brewster caught a pass at midcourt, exploded down the lane and unleashed a poster dunk over 6-foot-10 junior center Aidan Kehoe. 

Sophomore guard Mike McNair was brilliant as well, finishing with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting and 4 for 5 from deep. He made a flurry of contested jump shots, including a left-wing 3 while getting fouled. 

With sophomore Kyrone Alexander, BU’s leading scorer, not in attendance, the Terriers needed others to step up. Brewster and McNair did just that.

In a matchup between the Patriot League’s two best rebounding teams, BU won the battle on the glass.

The Terriers had their hands full on the glass, facing Kehoe (6-foot-10, 246 pounds) down low. 

Navy and BU are the Patriot League’s two best rebounding teams. Navy has the best rebounding margin in conference play, corralling 5.8 more than its opponent per game. BU is right behind, outrebounding foes by an average of 4.7. Navy outrebounded the Terriers, 35-29, in its 62-47 victory on Jan. 22, but BU earned the narrow edge on Wednesday.

BU snagged 26 rebounds to Navy’s 24, not allowing the Midshipmen’s length to offset the Terriers’ elite shooting night.