Men’s Basketball: BU defeats Wagner for second straight road win

Featured image by Jacob Ireland

By Alexa Podalsky

Boston University men’s basketball (4-6) hit the road to Staten Island to play the Wagner College (4-5) Seahawks on Sunday. What could have been their fifth road loss turned into a 73-59 win and BU’s second straight victory away from home.

Sophomore forward Otto Landrum had his chance to shine against the Seahawks. He scored 19 points, collected a career-high 14 rebounds, made four free throws and made more than half of his shots.

The team came into the game with a 1-5 away record because, as head coach Joe Jones has said after many of BU’s road losses so far this season, the team’s new talent has been struggling to organize.

The Terriers struggled to score in the first half. They attempted 14 3-pointers but only made two, and they shot just 37.5 percent from the field.

But, what made the difference for BU was their defense. The Terriers’s coverage forced a shot clock violation early in the first half and later kept the Seahawks from scoring a single point for four minutes, helping put the Terriers in front 30-28 at halftime.

While the Terriers still struggled to make 3-pointers in the second half, they took advantage of the free-throw line, making 10 of their 13 foul shots. They dominated on the glass, too, outrebounding the Seahawks 21-12 in the second period. As the half raged on, they remedied poor field goal shooting.

Whether it was confidence or skill that finally clicked, the Terriers were playing like a different team. 

“I thought Wagner was physically tougher than a lot of teams out there,” Jones said. “We wanted to stand up to that pressure and level of intensity that they play with.”

Jones said the team’s success could be credited to the depth on the bench. He hopes that, as the team becomes more comfortable, they will overcome a “mental barrier” that can help them get over the hump of their inexperience and youth.

Landrum, fellow sophomore forward Nico Nobili and junior guard Ethan Okwuosa led the scoreboard. Landrum scored 19 points while Okwuosa and Nobili were responsible for 12 each. 

“[Landrum] is still learning and growing, but he’s a really talented player,” Jones said. “Tonight, he played like an all-league player, he was outstanding.”

The Seahawks committed 18 personal fouls which aided BU’s win, as the Terriers kept their fouls minimal. Wagner fought hard to close the lead, but with every attempt around the basket, Landrum was there to apply pressure and pull in defensive rebounds. 

As the final seconds counted down, Okwuosa made two free throws to bring the final score to 73-59. 

Junior forward Malcolm Chimezie was notably absent for the majority of the game. Jones said it was because of the dominant gameplay from Landrum and Nobili. 

“It’s not easy to rotate everyone in, all the time. And with Otto playing pretty good and Nico playing pretty good, we kind of went with that.”

The Terriers will move on to play Dartmouth on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Hanover, NH. After starting the season with five consecutive losses on the road, BU will be looking for their third straight win away from home.