Dec. 27, 2013
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BOSTON - Looking to carry momentum from last week's 83-77 win at Maryland, the Boston University men's basketball team will conclude the non-conference schedule at Atlantic 10 foe Saint Joseph's on Sunday with tip-off slated for 4 p.m.
With their second win in three years over the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Terriers (7-5) have already secured their first winning non-conference record since 2004-05 and will now try to capture an eighth victory in regular season action for the first time since 1982-83.
The Hawks (6-4) are the sixth straight opponent to enter the match-up riding at least a two-game win streak. SJU owns a 7-1 all-time record against the Terriers and won the last meeting (75-68) at Hagan Arena in 2011 after BU earned an 85-79 home victory in 2010.
BU is the lone team in the Patriot League to feature three scorers in the top 13 of the conference rankings with sophomore Maurice Watson Jr.in sixth at 14.5 ppg. Watson also leads the conference in assists at 6.5 apg and ranks second in steals at 2.2 spg after posting 13 points, seven assists and three steals at Maryland.
Reigning Mid-Major National Player of the Week D.J. Irving has tallied at least 20 points in three of the last five games, including a season-high 25 against the Terrapins, and is currently averaging 12.9 ppg, while fellow classmate Dom Morris is close behind at 12.5 ppg.
Other Terriers have also stepped up throughout the season. Sophomore Nathan Dieudonne had a career-high 21 points in the 66-65 win against Saint Peter's and posted nine rebounds at Maryland, while reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Week Cedric Hankerson had a season-high 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals against the Terrapins. Sophomore John Papale, senior Travis Robinson and junior Malik Thomas have all reached double figures in scoring three times apiece.
BU will need to score to keep pace with a SJU squad that is averaging 74.9 ppg, highlighted by a dominating 75-55 win on Dec. 18 over Drexel, who currently ranks No. 57 in the latest ESPN RPI rankings. The Hawks feature four men averaging double figures, including the 6-foot-2 guard Langston Galloway at 17.0 ppg. Galloway has torched BU with a combined 54 points in two games on 17-of-27 (.630) shooting with 12 of the made field goals coming from behind the arc.
Standing 6-foot-8, forward Ronald Roberts is averaging 16.4 ppg and 7.1 rpg, while the other 6-foot-8 forward Halil Kanacevic has a team-high 8.0 rpg with 10.4 ppg. Roberts had 20 points on Dec. 21 to help the Hawks claim an 87-77 win over Loyola Maryland, who trailed by as many as 37 to SJU.
The Hawks are shooting 46.0 percent from the field, while BU is currently at 44.3 percent. A key statistic will be free throw shooting on Sunday, as SJU averages 24.7 trips a game to the charity stripe against BU's 18.8 visits. In the win over Maryland, the Terriers went to the line 36 times, 10 more than the Terrapins. BU is also 6-0 this season when finishing ahead in points off turnovers.
After the contest, the Terriers will return home and open their inaugural Patriot League schedule against former ECAC North foe and in-state rival Holy Cross at Agganis Arena on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. The teams will be meeting as fellow conference members for the first time since BU topped the Crusaders, 63-62, for the ECAC North tournament crown in 1983.
