Men’s Basketball: Terriers Square Off with Greyhounds
By: Dave Souza
The Boston University Men’s Basketball team will look to make it six straight conference wins in a row on Monday night as they travel down to Loyola Maryland for a 7 p.m. contest with the Greyhounds.
With a season-long five-game win streak in hand, the Terriers (10-7, 5-0 PL) will look to play consistent basketball in order to see their streak go to six. Leading the way offensively for BU in this recent stretch has been the pair of Justin Alston and Cedric Hankerson.
On the glass, the Terriers have earned their keep by scoring gritty points in the paint while grinding out games where they’ve collected double digit rebounds on the defensive side of the court. Alston currently leads the team with 8.6 rebounds per game and is also averaging 12 points per contest.
Head coach Joe Jones has harped on consistent effort from his team going forward, citing the defensive play of Alston and fellow senior Eric Fanning on the glass.
From beyond the arc, Hankerson has been lights out, draining an average of 13.8 points per game for the Terriers. Coming off back-to-back games where he’s scored 21 points, Hankerson is just 119 points away from reaching the 1,000 points milestone.
The Terriers starting five is rounded out by sophomore Kyle Foreman, who is second in the Patriot League in assists per game at 5.1, and freshman Tyler Scanlon, a big man who can defend beneath the basket but can also convert clutch three-pointers.
Squaring off against BU will be the Greyhounds, who come into Monday’s contest at 8-8 overall and a 2-3 record in conference play. And while Loyola Maryland has a winning record at home at 4-2, both of their losses have come to Patriot League teams that the Terriers have beaten: Navy and Lafayette.
Leading the way for the Greyhounds has been Jarred Jones, the senior guard who has been averaging a team-high 16.1 points per game. In Patriot League play, Jones has been even better, turning in 18 PPG. Jones is also lethal around the glass, leading the Greyhounds with 6.9 rebounds per game.
Andre Walker also provides stellar offense for Loyola, turning in an average of 14.9 points per game. The junior guard also leads his squad in assists per game at 3.8 and has been on the floor the most out of any Greyhound at an average of 30 and a half minutes.
For BU the challenge will be containing some of the Greyhounds’ most prolific scorers while being able to convert points in the paint against a tall Loyola squad that has only one player below six feet. If the Terriers can do that, they will continue to roll in conference play and will give Coach Jones his 100th victory as a BU coach.