Men’s Basketball: BU falls to Middle Tennessee in CBI Quarterfinals, ends season

By Hannah Yoshinaga 

Boston University men’s basketball fell to two-seed Middle Tennessee 76-46 in the College Basketball Invitational Quarterfinals Monday, bringing the Terriers’ season to a close.

Offensive struggles plagued BU throughout the contest; the Terriers shot 32.1% from the floor compared to 55.6% from the Blue Raiders.

It was an especially quiet night on the scoring end from some of BU’s most productive players during the conference season. Graduate center Sukhmail Mathon led with 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field, though he also grabbed 11 rebounds to finish with a double-double.

Graduate guard Javante McCoy and senior forward Walter Whyte each finished with 11.

With the exception of White, who shot 3-for-7 from deep, BU struggled to connect from deep up and down the lineup. The six other players who attempted a three shot 11.1% from beyond the arc on the evening.

The Terriers hung with the Blue Raiders for much of the first period after getting off to a solid offensive start, never trailing by more than four points until the final six minutes of the half.

However, Middle Tennessee went on a 10-0 run fueled by forward Deandre Dishman and guard Teafale Lenard in the final minutes while BU failed to score for more than five minutes.

Jumpers from McCoy and Mathon put points on the board to close the period, but BU headed into the break in a 38-24 hole.

The Terriers did not have much better luck to open the second half, recording a turnover and three missed three-pointers before head coach Joe Jones went for the hockey sweep and sent all five starters to the bench.

Lenard and guard Donovan Sims continued to challenge the BU defense, and the Blue Raiders’ lead swelled to 20 points.

The Terriers were unable to make up ground for the rest of the contest, eventually ending the matchup in a 30-point deficit — BU’s largest margin of loss this season.

The contest was the final one for graduate players Javante McCoy and Sukhmail Mathon, who have each donned a BU uniform since 2017.

It could also be the final appearance for seniors Walter Whyte, Jonas Harper, Fletcher Tynen and Garrett Pascoe; each carries an extra year of eligibility per the NCAA’s decision in October 2020 to grant winter student-athletes an additional season of play after the 2020-21 season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.