Men’s Basketball: Terriers Hang Tough In Loss Against #1 Kentucky

By: Matt Doherty

In their most difficult game of the season, a date with the No. 1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats in Rupp Arena, Boston University played tough despite losing 82-62.

The pesky Terriers opened up slow falling behind 10-0 quickly. However, Joe Jones’s team responded to adversity to overcome the deficit.

Strong first half play from guards John Papale and Kyle Foreman as well as timely three point shooting gave BU 34-33 lead with two minutes remaining in the first half. This was the latest the Wildcats have trailed in their five games this season which includes a matchup with the defending National Champions Duke Blue Devils.

Soon after though, Kentucky went on a huge run scoring 18 of the next 20 points and taking a commanding double digit lead that the Terriers were never able to recover from.

BU fell by 20 despite playing a solid all around game against the nation’s best team which will sure give them confidence going forward.

Four Terriers were in double figures led by senior guard John Papale who scored 15 points while knocking down 3 three pointers. Freshman Kyle Foreman and 2012 Mr. Basketball in the state of Kentucky Nathan Dieudonne each had 11 points. Cheddi Mosely was the last Terrier to score double digits chipping in 10.

BU battled the Wildcats but their overall skill and athleticism took over in the second half leading them to the victory. Potential first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Skal Labissiere, led all scorers with 16 points while fellow freshman and McDonald’s All Americans Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe had 11 and 12 points respectively.

Arguably Kentucky’s best overall player, sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis, constantly attacked the basket and found open players all night long tuning to a 15 point and 6 assist evening.

For the Terriers, no game will be as challenging as this one but leading the number one team in the country late in the first half shows the potential of this veteran team, especially when they were missing their top two scorers.

BU falls to 2-3 on the season and will continue their five game road trip when they travel to Binghamton on Saturday searching for their third consecutive win following a defeat.