Men’s Basketball: Terriers Travel to UMass-Amherst

By: Chris Lynch

The five-game road swing is finally coming to an end for the Boston University Terriers Men’s Basketball Team on Wednesday night when they travel to Western Massachusetts where the UMass-Amherst Minutemen.

This will be a difficult test for the Terriers, with UMass sitting at 4-1 on the season, and its only loss coming against a difficult Big East team in Creighton featuring a former BU Terrier; Maurice Watson Jr. He scored 16 points in a 97-76 defeat in the MGM Grand Main Event in Las Vegas, Nevada, and UMass lost.

Before the loss to Creighton, UMass was playing excellent basketball. The Minutemen won a hard game against Harvard, a program coming off its fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. UMass also tied a program record for most three pointers in a victory over ACC-foe Clemson with 16.

UMass is similar to BU in that it lives and dies by the outside shot. The Minutemen’s leading scorers are their guards; former West Virginia Mountaineer Jabarie Hinds is averaging 20 points a game, with a .484 percentage from the three-point line. Trey Davis is adding 18.6 points a game, and a .469 three point percentage.

While these teams are similar in style, they do not know each other well. The programs haven’t played a game against each other since 2010, which UMass won 71-54. Despite not having played in a while, UMass still holds a historic edge over the Terriers. BU has not won against the Minutemen since 1988, losing 11 consecutive games in the all-time series.

This is the best chance to break the bad streak against the Minutemen and end the road trip on a good note. The Terriers are coming off their most complete victory of the season against Binghamton, where they got a career day from Cheddi Mosely, who scored 26 points and collected five rebounds. They also got a season high 46 rebounds and excellent play from their front court. Nick Havener and Nathan Dieudonne collected double digit points, and Justin Alston added 10 rebounds.

The Terriers will need a balanced performance to control the possession clock and keep UMass from racking up three point shots. For BU to win this game, the Terriers will need continued contributions from everyone to out-rebound the Minutemen and neutralize their perimeter game.

Tip-off at the Mullins Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and can be heard live on the Terrier Sports Radio Network.