MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Down by as many as 29 points in the second half, the Boston University men's basketball team staged a furious rally to force overtime before eventually coming up short to UC Davis, 81-70, on Monday afternoon in the final contest of the Cream City Classic at the Klotsche Center.

Finishing with a 51-23 advantage in free throw attempts, the Aggies improved to 6-2, while the Terriers dropped to 4-4. The Aggies went 11-of-13 from the charity stripe and held BU to just one field goal during the extra session to prevail in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Graduate student Jonas Harper netted 13 of his team-high 21 points during the last five minutes of regulation to help lead the rally, while classmate Walter Whyte tabulated 11 points and eight rebounds. Graduate student Fletcher Tynen also scored in double figures with 10 points, and senior Nevin Zink came up just short of a double-double at eight points and seven boards. Both sophomore Malcolm Chimezie and junior Daman Tate totaled seven points apiece off the bench.

Four of the five UCD starters reached double figures with Loyola Chicago transfer Ty Johnson posting a game-high 27 points. Robby Beasley earned a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Elijah Pepper recorded 10 rebounds, five assists and five points. Both Christian Anigwe and Ade Adebayo tallied 10 points apiece as well.

OVERTIME

• Zink opened the scoring for both teams with two free throws at 3:45, but the Terriers wouldn't score again until Chimezie dunked the ball three minutes later to cut the deficit to 77-70.
• During that stretch of play, BU missed three shots near the rim and committed two turnovers, as the Aggies tied the game at 3:07 on two free throws and then grabbed the lead for good at 2:27 on Johnson's layup plus bonus free throw.
• The Terriers missed three more shots over the final 40 seconds for the double-digit defeat.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Senior Ethan Brittain-Watts started the game with a jumper, but the Terriers were unable to get into a rhythm, starting 4-of-24 to face a 35-8 deficit with 5:51 left in the half.
• The Terriers finished on an 13-7 spurt with Harper and graduate student Walter Whyte combining for three 3-pointers to enter the locker room down, 42-13.
• Facing a 54-26 deficit with 14:41 left following a pair of free throws by Pepper, the Terriers began chipping away, beginning with Tynen's layup at 14:09.
• Down 59-34 at 11:29, Whyte found Tynen for a jumper and later drove to the hoop at 8:11 to put the deficit at 60-40.
• With 7:40 remaining, Whyte intercepted a pass and scored on a layup with the bonus free throw.
• Tate followed Tynen's free throw with a fastbkrea layup at 5:10 to pull within just nine, 60-51.
• Harper drained a 3-pointer at 4:23 to pull even closer, 61-56, and two minutes later scored on his own steal to draw within two, 62-60.
• Clinging to a 64-60 lead with 1:05 left, UCD committed a turnover and then went 1-of-2 on its last two trips to the line, as Harper took advantage with four straight free throws and then the game-tying layup at 10 seconds.
• Pepper rushed a contested 3-point attempt to help send the game to OT.

GAME NOTES

• Harper reached 20+ points for the second time in his career and first since tabulating 22 against Holy Cross as a freshman in 2019.
• Harper is now just 112 points away from becoming the 42nd Terrier to reach 1,000 and owns 175 career 3-pointers, just two away from cracking the top 10.
• Whilte (1,344) is 24 points away from grabbing sole possession of the 14th slot in the program record book and is also just eight rebounds away from becoming the sixth Terrier in program history to reach 1,300 points and 700 rebounds.

UP NEXT

• BU will continue seven-game road trip at Merrimack on Friday (Dec. 2) with a 7 p.m. tip.
• The Terriers won last year's meeting on a late 3-pointer from Javante McCoy ('22) after winning, 69-67, on the road in 2019.