Men’s Basketball: BU spoils Hartford’s banner night

Senior forward Walter Whyte looks for a pass against Northeastern University on Nov. 16, 2021. Whyte led the Terriers with 21 points in their win over the University of Hartford Thursday. HANNAH YOSHINAGA/ WTBU SPORTS

By Joe Eachus

Boston University men’s basketball (2-2, 0-0 PL) defeated the University of Hartford Hawks (0-4, 0-0 AE) 75-70 on Thursday night in West Hartford following a pregame ceremony to raise the Hawks’ America East championship banner from last season to the rafters.

BU Head Coach Joe Jones noted postgame how much respect he has for the Hartford program and what they’ve accomplished, and even had the Terriers watch the ceremony from their bench.

Following serious shooting troubles in their previous game against Northeastern, the Terriers shot 45.9% from the field and 37.9% from behind the arc. BU took almost half of its shot attempts from three.

The Hawks had a nearly identical night on the offensive end, also shooting 45.9% from the field but only 30.4% from three.

One of the stars of the game was sophomore swingman Anthony Morales, who scored 18 points on an efficient 7-for-9 shooting night. Morales eclipsed his career-high midway through the first half.

Jones praised Morales postgame. “He was terrific tonight… without him, I don’t know if we win the game,” he said.

Jones said he is hoping to get more productive minutes out of the bench, and Morales is just one part of that.

Senior forward Walter Whyte led the team in scoring with 21 points to go with eight rebounds. For the Hawks, senior forward Hunter Marks led the way with 18 points and three assists.

Both teams each had a sloppy start to the game with two shot-clock violations between them on their first possessions. BU quickly shook off the rust as senior forward Walter Whyte got the scoring going for the Terriers with a three-pointer.

Rebounding quickly became one of Hartford’s woes, as the Hawks struggled on the glass on both ends. The Terriers led the game in rebounds with 38 total, including 16 offensive boards.

The first half was largely a game of runs, with BU and Hartford each going on extended scoring runs followed by scoring droughts that would last several minutes at a time.

BU started the game off with a 15-4 run, emphasized by a foul that sent senior forward Fletcher Tynen to the line. A commercial timeout allowed the Hawks to halt the Terriers’ momentum and gave Hartford Coach John Gallagher the opportunity to adjust to a 1-3-1 zone defense.

The Terriers later adjusted themselves, going on a 13-4 run to end the half leading 41-25.

The second half was again lopsided, but instead, it was the Hawks who dominated. BU was still able to hold onto their lead, despite it shrinking from as large as 18 to just one point at times.

“They really picked us apart in the second half and got whatever they wanted,” Jones said.

The Hawks capitalized on a big dunk from Whyte to energize themselves, turning what could have been a momentum shift in favor of BU their own way. Hartford subsequently went on a 13-4 run, emphasized by an acrobatic layup by Marks that shaved the Terrier lead to single digits and prompted a timeout by Jones.

The halt in play did not phase the Hawks, though, as they continued their run after the timeout. Hartford shaved the deficit to just one point, and once again adjusted its defense to a 2-3 look.

With 3.5 seconds remaining and the Terriers up by three, senior guard Javante McCoy was sent to the line and hit two clutch free throws to put the game away.

The Terriers will be back in action on Sunday in Jacksonville, FL, taking on Northern Illinois in the Jacksonville Classic tournament.

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