BOSTON – Having won two consecutive games, the Boston University men's basketball team will make its final trek of the regular season to Lafayette on Wednesday night with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.
The contest carries a lot of significance for next week's Patriot League tournament, as the top six teams in the standings receive a first-round bye. The Terriers (13-16, 6-10 PL) are currently in a four-way tie for seventh, while the Leopards (10-17, 7-9 PL) are tied with Army for fifth place.
TERRIER TIDBITS
- The Terriers enter the matchup with momentum after completing a regular season sweep over in-state rival Holy Cross, 70-60, and avenging a January OT loss to Loyola Maryland with a 72-65 home win on Saturday.
- Junior Max Mahoney posted back-to-back double-doubles for the first time in his career ... He ranks seventh in PL-only scoring at 16.4 ppg and third in rebounding at 7.1 rpg.
- Freshman Jonas Harper averaged a team-high 14.5 points during the two wins to claim his second Patriot League Rookie of the Week award ... He is shooting a staggering 59.5 percent from behind the arc in conference play to average 6.8 ppg.
- Junior Tyler Scanlon recorded consecutive double-doubles in BU's last two-game win streak ... He is averaging 13.9 ppg and 4.9 rpg with sophomore Javante McCoy close behind at 11.9 in PL competition.
- The Terriers rank 48th nationally at 47.2 FG% while averaging 72.0 ppg and are holding opponents to 71.8 ppg and 46.7 FG% ... BU is 11-1 this season when opponents finish below 70 points this season.
SCOUTING LAFAYETTE
- The Leopards used the Feb. 6 victory at BU (79-72) to spark a five-game win streak (combined 22 points) snapped this past Sunday at Bucknell (118-76) ... Six of Lafayette's nine PL losses were by single digits.
- Lafayette is 4-8 at home compared to its 6-9 road mark with victories against Loyola Maryland (85-70), American (70-68), Holy Cross (69-67) and Rosemont (95-54).
- Following 16 conference games, 6-foot-1 guard Justin Jaworski is averaging a team-high 15.0 ppg while shooting a stellar 55.3 percent from behind the arc with 6-foot-3 guard Alex Petrie close behind at 14.1 ppg.
- 6-foot-7 forward Paulius Zalys leads Lafayette in both assists (3.6 apg) and rebounding (4.8 rpg) while averaging 10.6 ppg.
- Lafayette is averaging 10.1 made 3-pointers per PL game to help post 73.3 ppg, but opponents are averaging 49.2 FG% to offset the Leopards' production from beyond the arc and average 78.1 ppg.
SERIES HISTORY
- BU leads the all-time series, 12-7, dating back to 1948-49 and is 10-23 since joining the Patriot League in the summer of 2013.
- The Terriers eliminated the Leopards in the 2014 PL quarterfinals but were eliminated by Lafayette in the 2015 quarterfinals.
- BU came back with sweeps in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
- The last meeting on Feb. 6 featured a season-high 15 lead changes and 11 ties ... BU led 63-62 with 5:49 remaining before Lafayette went on a 10-2 run to pull away for the 79-72 win ... Scanlon led the Terriers with a career-high 28 points.
- Last season in Easton, the Terriers faced an eight-point deficit (44-36) with 15:40 remaining before going on a 25-4 run capped by Will Goff's ('18) 3-pointer at 6:13 ... The Leopards rallied in the final minute to pull within two with eight seconds left, but the Terriers hit a free throw and forced a tough 3-point attempt to seal the 75-72 road win.
