Terriers Set to Visit Harvard Tuesday Night
December 10, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2012
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BOSTON - Seeking its fourth straight victory, the Boston University men's basketball team will take a quick ride over to Harvard on Tuesday night with action set to begin at 7 p.m.
The Terriers (3-5) and Crimson (4-4) are continuing a rivalry that dates back to the 1904-05 season. Harvard leads the all-time series by a 35-27 margin after winning the last three contests.
BU enters the game on a hot-shooting streak from behind the arc, ranking 13th nationally in made 3-pointers at 8.9 per game. When freshman Nathan Dieudonne hit a bomb for the Terriers' first points of the game at Coastal Carolina, BU reached the 500 consecutive game milestone with a made 3-pointer.
Two Terriers are leading the way with junior Travis Robinson averaging 2.9 per game, 41st best in the nation. More impressively, he is 18-of-25 over the last four games and ranks third in the country shooting 57.5 percent. Freshman John Papale has come off the bench nailing treys as well. Averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers per game, he is on pace to finish with 73, which would top the freshman record of 70 set by Paul Seymour during the 1999-00 season.
BU is not only scoring from the outside though, as evidenced by junior Dom Morris' career-high 18 points against the Chanticleers last Thursday. He is currently second on the team in scoring at 10.6 ppg with junior D.J. Irving averaging a team-high 13.5 ppg. Freshman Maurice Watson Jr. is also averaging double figures, slashing his way to the basket for 10.1 ppg.
Through eight games, the Terriers are averaging 67.4 ppg, but the key to their three wins has been on the defensive end. In the two games against Coastal Carolina, they held one of the nation's top scorers Anthony Raffa (26.0 ppg) to a combined 18 points. In the last contest, the Chanticleers were out-rebounded for the first time all season. Sophomore Malik Thomas leads the team in rebounding at 6.3 rpg with Morris close behind at 6.1 rpg.
They will face a difficult task against a Harvard squad that is out-rebounding teams by a positive 3.8 margin. The Crimson is shooting 46.5 percent from the field and is averaging 68.4 ppg. Wesley Saunders leads the team at 15.9 ppg while averaging 4.8 rpg. Siyani Chambers and Laurent Rivard are other two in double figures at 11.5 ppg and 10.6 ppg, respectively. Jonah Travis averages 9.4 ppg and a team-high 5.4 rpg.
Harvard's last three wins have come when scoring 70 points, including a 79-63 victory at Boston College, while all three of BU's wins have occurred when holding teams below 70.
Last year at Agganis Arena, the Crimson trailed by three with nine minutes left in the first half before pulling away for a 76-52 victory. Rivard led the way with 18 points off 6-of-7 shooting from behind the arc. Harvard also won the battle of the boards, 39-30.
After the conclusion of a three-game road trip, BU will return to Case Gym and host Quinnipiac on Sunday (Dec. 16) at 1 p.m.
