BOSTON – After recognizing the senior class, the Boston University men's basketball team cruised to an 85-67 win over American on Saturday afternoon at Case Gym.

The Terriers (18-9, 9-5 PL) shot a stifling 65.4 percent in the first half and prevented any chance of a rally in the second from American (6-18, 2-10 PL) to claim their seventh win in eight games. BU outscored AU in the paint, 48-32, and at the charity stripe, 15-6, for its first regular season sweep in the series since 2017.

One of five to reach double figures, graduate student Javante McCoy netted 14 of his game-high 25 points in the first half and finished the game with six rebounds. Fellow graduate student Sukhmail Mathon (13 pts.) and senior Walter Whyte (11 pts.) totaled eight rebounds apiece. Sophomore Daman Tate came off the bench to score in double figures for the third straight game at a season-high 14 points, while senior Jonas Harper earned 10 points. 

Elijah Stephens led the Eagles with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, as AU's leading scorer Stacy Beckton Jr. was held to 6-of-16 from the field for 14 points. Matt Rogers recorded seven points and six boards in the loss. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams went back and forth through the first nine minutes with Jaxon Knotek giving the Eagles their final lead of the game on a 3-pointer, 16-15.
• Mathon came right back with an offensive putback on his own missed hook shot to spark a 11-3 run capped by sophomore Daman Tate's layup at 9:00.
• Whyte put BU's lead in double digits for good two minutes later on a 3-pointer set up by freshman Malcolm Chimezie's assist.
• Owning a 33-23 lead with 5:13 remaining, Harper scored five straight with a layup and 3-pointer before McCoy flushed four straight free throws.
• McCoy briefly put the lead at 20 points with 14 seconds remaining before Stephens ended the half on a layup, as the Terriers entered the locker room ahead, 48-30.
• The Eagles never threatened in the second half, as BU built its lead to as high as 25 (83-58) at 3:02 on back-to-back steals plus layups from Tate and McCoy.

GAME NOTES

• All 16 available Terriers appeared in the game.
• Mathon is now just 10 rebounds away from becoming the fourth Terrier to reach 800 career boards and is just 28 away from becoming the first in the 21st century to tally 300 in a single season.
• Whyte moved into a tie for No. 21 all-time at 1,159 career points with BU Hall of Famer Randy Cross ('65).
• McCoy earned his sixth 20+ point performance of the season and is now just 32 away from t,800 career points.
• Tate has totaled 39 points in the last three games on 16-of-18 shooting after combining for 27 through his first 10 appearances.
• The Terriers moved to 12-8 all-time against the Eagles.

UP NEXT

• The Terriers will visit Holy Cross on Wednesday (Feb. 16) at 7 p.m.
• The Crusaders won the previous meeting at Case Gym, 75-70.