Men’s Basketball: Terriers ‘outplayed’ by Navy in 83-71 road loss

By Joe Eachus 

Boston University men’s basketball suffered its first defeat of 2022 on Tuesday night, falling to the Navy Midshipmen 83-71.

In the high-scoring affair, the Terriers (10-5, 1-1 PL) struggled to contain Navy’s (9-4, 2-0 PL) offense, with the Mids shooting 53% from the field and 58% from three-point range.

Head coach Joe Jones was matter-of-fact about BU’s effort postgame.

“We got outplayed in basically every facet of the game,” Jones said. “We got killed on the glass, [Navy] had 14 offensive rebounds. They played harder, they were more committed than we were.”

Fifth-year center Sukhmail Mathon, who was named Patriot League Player of the Week Monday, once again led the Terriers in scoring with 18 points.

However, fifth-year guard Javante McCoy and senior forward Walter Whyte both struggled to get it going from everywhere on the floor. McCoy went just 6-for-14 to finish with 12 points, while Whyte went 2-for-7 and ended with 11 in his second game back from injury.

Jones said he felt the entire team needed to do better to protect its own end of the court, plainly stating that the Terriers were outplayed defensively.

Navy also had a substantial edge in rebounds, 37-22.

After getting out to a 21-14 lead, BU allowed a 17-0 run by Navy during the first half. However, the Terriers answered back with a 10-2 run, ending the half trailing only four points.

The Mids’ senior guard John Carter Jr. propelled Navy in the first period with 15 points in 17 minutes of play.

Despite their efforts in the second half, which included bringing the score to a tie, the Terriers committed several sloppy turnovers that ultimately tipped the game in favor of Navy.

Carter Jr. finished with 23 points, leading all players in the match.

“[Carter Jr.] was terrific. I thought [he] made big plays when they needed it,” Jones said.

Navy also had big nights from junior forwards Tyler Nelson and Daniel Deaver, who scored 20 and 18 points respectively. In the absence of usual starting guard Greg Summers, sophomore guard Austin Inge had his highest-scoring contest of the season with 12 points.

The defeat was the Terriers’ first loss to Navy at the Midshipmen’s Alumni Hall, where the teams have faced off eight times since February 2014.

The Terriers will look to right the ship against Loyola Maryland back at The Roof on Friday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.