Hughes' Career Night Lifts Terriers to 77-73 OT Victory Over Lafayette

Wednesday, January 21

Boston, MA

6 PM

Boston University

8-12,3-4Patriot

Lafayette

5-15,2-5Patriot

OT 1

Lafayette

Boston U.

Photo by: Dante Tudor

Hughes' Career Night Lifts Terriers to 77-73 OT Victory Over Lafayette

January 21, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Coach Jones-Hughes Postgame

BOSTON – Highlighted by freshman Sam Hughes' overtime-sending jumper and a career-high 23 points, the Boston University men's basketball team rallied for a thrilling 77-73 victory over Lafayette Wednesday night at Case Gym.

Down by as many as 11 in the second half, the Terriers (8-12, 3-4 PL) held the Leopards (5-15, 2-5 PL) to 29.0 percent shooting during the final 20 minutes of regulation and went 6-for-7 at the charity stripe in overtime to complete the series sweep.

With 4.7 seconds remaining and down three, Hughes made his first of two free throw attempts and then hit a jumper at 2.1 seconds after collecting a loose rebound inside the line to send BU to OT. He then added six more points to reach 20+ points for the second time this season. Sophomores Azmar Abdullah (13 pts.) and Ben Defty (12 pts.) combined for 25 points and both came up one rebound shy of a double-double with Defty adding a career-tying five blocks. Freshman Chance Gladden tallied eight points and seven assists, while junior Michael McNair recorded 13 points with six rebounds and two steals.

For the Leopards, Caleb Williams totaled a game-high 24 points, and Shareef Jackson earned 17 points alongside four blocks. Andrew Phillips added 18 points and seven rebounds while also matching Williams at three steals apiece. Lafayette shot 48.4 percent in the first half to grab a 39-30 lead entering the locker room but finished at 40.0 FG%, as the Leopards started off 7-for-13 (.538) from behind the arc and went 3-for-16 (.188) the rest of the way.

DOWN THE STRETCH

Facing a 60-53 deficit with 3:18 left in regulation, McNair hit his third 3-pointer, and Abdullah added another following two Lafayette free throws at 2:34.
After Gladden pulled BU within one on a layup at 1:46, BU missed a go-ahead layup on its next possession and then two free throws at 17 seconds following a Lafayette turnover.
Quickly fouled, the Leopards added two free throws, and BU missed a game-tying 3-point attempt with eight seconds left.
Lafayette then missed a 1-and-1 and immediately fouled Hughes to prevent a shot attempt from behind the arc.
Hughes sent the contest to OT with a free throw and jumper set up by his missed attempt at the charity stripe.
BU never trailed in OT, as Hughes broke the deadlock on three free throws at 3:24 and later responded to Jackson's layup with a 3-pointer at 35 seconds for a 74-70 lead.
The Leopards scored from behind the arc on their next possession to pull within one but missed the go-ahead attempt with 3.6 seconds left after BU went 1-for-2 at the free throw line.
Defty hauled in the defensive rebound and quickly found Abdullah, who sealed the victory on two free throws.

THE SETUP

After McNair helped BU get out to an early 7-2 lead with a layup and 3-pointer, Hughes scored from behind the arc in response to the Leopards' 3-pointer for a 10-5 advantage at 15:30.
Freshman Donte Tisinger Jr. fed junior Quinn Nielsen for a slam dunk and BU's largest lead of the game, 12-5, with 14:59 left in the half.
Facing an 18-13 deficit following Defty's own slam dunk at 10:57, the Leopards went on an 11-0 run with Williams contributing seven of those points.
BU pulled within one at 5:40 (27-26) on McNair's second 3-pointer and three minutes later at 2:44 (31-30) on Tisinger's free throw.
The Leopards through ended the half with an 8-0 spurt thanks to Phillips hitting two 3-pointers, including one just before the buzzer set up by his interception of a BU pass.
Jackson opened the second half with a layup for Lafayette's largest lead, 41-30.
BU chipped away and eventually cut the deficit to 49-46 at 11:12 on Hughes' tip-in bucket off his own missed layup attempt.
Tisinger pulled the Terriers even closer, 53-51, on a 3-pointer at 7:42, but BU would not be able to overcome the deficit until the final seconds of regulation.

GAME NOTES

Hughes' 23 points topped his previous high of 21 totaled during the season-opening 76-75 victory at Northeastern. Coincidentally, Hughes sent that game to OT as well, hitting two free throws with 3.6 seconds left in regulation.
Abdullah's nine rebounds marked three more than his previous high recorded against American on Jan. 3 and against Dartmouth his rookie season.
With the help of their 11th 50+ percent shooting performance, the Terriers improved to 2-2 in overtime contests with a 1-1 split at Case Gym.
Outscored off turnovers, 15-10, with a 10-9 deficit in made 3-pointers, the Terriers edged the Leopards in the paint (34-32), at the free throw line (10-7) and in second-chance opportunities (8-5).
Besides earning its third straight victory to increase the series lead to 23-11, BU swept the home-and-away matchups for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign.
The teams battled to OT for the first time since both 2022-23 contests needed extra time for a victor to emerge.

UP NEXT

BU will next visit Colgate on Saturday (Jan. 24) for a 2 p.m. tip.
Both home teams won last season with the Terriers claiming a thrilling 93-91 double-overtime victory after falling on the road, 87-50.