Men’s Basketball: Terriers come back from early deficit, defeat UNCG in CBI first round

By Hannah Yoshinaga 

Boston University men’s basketball came back from a first-half deficit and stymied a comeback effort in the final seconds to defeat UNC Greensboro in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational 71-68 Sunday.

The Terriers move on to the second round to face Middle Tennessee, which defeated California Baptist on Saturday. The Blue Raiders finished with the best conference record in Conference USA before falling to UAB in the C-USA Tournament.

Graduate center Sukhmail Mathon led the Terriers with 18 points and nine rebounds, also going a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line.

Senior guard Jonas Harper shot 5-of-8 and posted 15 points, his third-highest scoring total of the season and best shooting performance since the start of conference play in January. Graduate guard Javante McCoy also paced BU with 13 points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds.

On the other end of the floor, Spartans guard De’Monte Buckingham recorded a game-high 21 points, including a 5-of-11 mark from beyond the arc. Forward Bas Leyte also managed an efficient 6-of-8 from the floor to finish with 17 points.

However, UNCG couldn’t get much offensive production from the rest of its lineup, which combined to shoot 27.2% from the floor. The Spartans could not convert from the charity stripe either; the team shot 63.2% from the line on the evening.

First postseason win since 2016! #GoBU pic.twitter.com/pHmCOHcwWj

— BU Men's Basketball (@TerrierMBB) March 20, 2022

BU found itself in a deficit midway through the first period after hanging with UNCG for the first several minutes and tying the score at 9-9. The Spartans subsequently went on a 17-4 run, capped off by a big three from Buckingham.

UNCG’s lead increased to as many as 13 points before a series of three-pointers by the Terriers, including a four-point play by sophomore guard Caelan Jones, brought BU within seven points to close the half.

The Spartans maintained a steady advantage over the Terriers to open the second period before BU went on an 8-0 run to tie the score at 45-45.

A layup by senior forward Walter Whyte with 10 minutes remaining gave BU its first lead of the half, which the Terriers never relinquished.

UNCG’s best chance to regain an edge came in the final two minutes when back-to-back shots by Leyte brought the Spartans within one point. However, Whyte made a three with 17 seconds left to essentially seal the game for BU.

The Terriers tip off against Middle Tennessee at 6 p.m. on Monday.