BOSTON – Looking to avenge last year's double-overtime heartbreaking Patriot League semifinal loss to Lehigh, the Boston University men's basketball team will visit the Mountain Hawks in a quarterfinal matchup on Thursday with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.
Though seeded fifth, the Terriers (14-15, 10-8 PL) have at least win one over the seven other quarterfinal participants and are riding a two-game win streak following victories against Army West Point (61-59) and Lafayette (75-72). The Mountain Hawks (16-13, 11-7 PL) own at least one win over six teams, minus No. 3 seed Navy, and are the hottest squad in the conference with an eight-game win streak. Thursday's winner will advance to Sunday's semifinal contest against either No. 1 Bucknell or No. 8 Loyola Maryland.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY
- BU is seeking its seventh overall conference title and first since winning the 2011 America East title as the No. 2 seed.
- BU is 46-31 (.597) all-time in conference tourneys and 3-4 in the PL after reaching the 2014 final and 2017 semifinals ... The Terriers are 23-13 (.639) in the quarterfinals with a 2-2 mark against the PL.
- BU earned a No. 5 seed for the fifth time and owns a 3-4 all-time mark ... The Terriers have lost their last three games: at eventual champion Lafayette in 2015, to Maine in the 2001 America East tournament hosted by Delaware and at Drexel in the 1995 AE semifinals.
- BU reached the 1985 ECAC North Atlantic Final with wins over Niagara and Canisius before falling to Northeastern by one.
TERRIER TIDBITS
- Finishing 10-8 in the PL standings, the Terriers have extended their streak of finishing .500 or greater in conference play to 18 seasons ... The streak is tied-ninth nationally with VCU after Wisconsin saw its streak in the Big Ten end at 19 years ... BU has reached 10+ wins in nine of the last 10 seasons.
- The Terriers are 8-8 on the road this season compared to their 6-7 home mark and need two more victories to match the 10 road wins claimed in 2016.
- For the second consecutive year, BU had a true post player earn All-Conference honors ... Highlighted by 20+ point performances this year, sophomore Max Mahoney claimed his first award (third team) on Monday after averaging 12.8 ppg and 5.0 rpg ... He ranks second in the PL in field goal shooting percentage (.607), which currently would break the BU record in a season.
- After hitting the game-winning layup and free throw at Army last Saturday, freshman Walter Whyte became the seventh Terrier in six years under head coach Joe Jones to receive All-PL Rookie Team accolades ... He ranked t-10th in PL-only games at 0.8 bpg, 13th at 5.9 rpg and t-27th at 10.5 ppg.
- Senior and former All-PL rookie member Cedric Hankerson leads the Terriers in scoring at 13.5 ppg and will be facing Lehigh for the first time this season after missing the first two contests due to injury.
- Sophomore Tyler Scanlon is the third Terrier in double figures at 10.4 ppg while averaging a team-high 5.7 rpg and 2.8 apg.
- Freshman Javante McCoy (8.6 ppg) leads the team in 3-point shooting percentage (.429) with senior Will Goff (6.0 ppg) close behind at .396.
- The Terriers rank second in the PL and 96th nationally in FG% (.464) while averaging 70.3 ppg ... They are holding opponents to 70.8 ppg and 44.5 FG%.
- BU also ranks 66th nationally in steals (7.2 spg) and 71st in 3FG% (.374).
SCOUTING LEHIGH
- Lehigh is averaging 81.8 ppg during the eight-game win streak ... The Terriers are 3-5 this season when allowing 80+ points in a game.
- The Mountain Hawks are 9-5 at home compared to their 7-8 road mark with key wins over Bucknell (92-89 OT), Siena (91-90 OT), Mount St. Mary's (75-60), Holy Cross (83-77) and Army West Point (84-53) ... Their three Patriot League losses at Stabler Arena to Colgate (76-72), Loyola Maryland (91-88 2OT) and Navy (77-75) were by a combined nine points.
- All-PL Second Team member Lance Tejada is one of four Mountain Hawks averaging double figures at a team-high 14.7 ppg while shooting an impressive 46.4 percent from behind the arc.
- All-PL Second Team member Kahron Ross (13.0 ppg) ranks fourth in the PL in assists at 4.3 apg, while Pat Andree (12.5 ppg) and Kyle Leufroy (10.3 ppg) are averaging a combined 10.9 rpg ... James Karnik (6.9 ppg) owns a team-high 6.4 rpg.
- Lehigh ranks 77th nationally in scoring offense at 77.7 ppg but is allowing 77.4 ppg, 294th worst.
- The Mountain Hawks rank 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (40.9), 15th in free throw percentage (77.5 ppg) and 27th made 3-pointers per game (9.8) ... On the flip side, they rank 342nd in blocked shots (1.8 bpg).
SERIES HISTORY
- The Terriers lead the all-time series, 7-5, after claiming a 92-81 home win back on Jan. 8 and dropping an 80-75 decision at Stabler Arena.
- After BU won the first-ever meeting back in 1968, the teams split in each of BU's first three years in the PL until BU claimed its first-ever regular season sweep in Jan. 2017 ... Lehigh got its revenge by edging the Terriers, 91-88, in double overtime during the 2017 PL semifinals.
- In the Jan. 8 win, BU shot 60.0 FG% in the first half and finished on a 36-11 run for a 49-24 halftime lead ... Lehigh hit 12 3-pointers in the 2nd half to pull within nine (88-79) with a minute left, but Scanlon had 17 2nd half points for the win.
- In BU's last visit to Lehigh, the Terriers led, 75-72, with 1:42 left before going 0-of-3 with two costly turnovers after trailing 40-31 at the half ... BU missed a wide-open game-tying 3-point attempt, allowing Lehigh to hit two more FTs for the 80-75 win ... Lehigh started 8-of-11 3FG ... Scanlon had career-high 24 pts. for BU, while Caleb Bennett had 23 pts for the Mountain Hawks.
