Men’s Basketball: BU’s second half comeback falls short in loss to Bucknell

Featured image by Jacob Ireland

By Finn Rogan

Boston University men’s basketball (7-11, 2-3 PL) fell, 73-57, to the Bucknell Bison (6-12, 3-2 PL) on Wednesday night at Case Gym. It was a night where the Terriers could not sustain any offensive momentum.

“We looked very uncomfortable against the zone tonight,” head coach Joe Jones said. 

In the first half, Bucknell took the first lead of the game, one which they would never give up. Although the Terriers matched the pace early, Bucknell opened a commanding eight-point lead halfway through the period.

The story of the first half for the Terriers was their inability to connect from 3-point range. BU shot 0-for-13 from behind the arc in the opening period.

“I thought we got pretty good looks, and missed, and I thought we got stuck at the basket and couldn’t finish up the basket either,” Jones said. Overall, BU shot 27.6 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, and finished the game on just a 35.6 percent clip.

Due to all the missed shots, Bucknell dominated on the glass. BU finished the game outrebounded 41-30.

“We needed to attack the offensive glass more,” Jones said. “We should have been able to get more offensive rebounds.”

Bucknell led 33-20 after the first half of play. The Bison were led by senior guard Jack Forrest, who scored 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting in the first half. 

“He kicked our tails tonight,” Jones said.

Forrest finished the game with a game-high 26 points.

The Terriers hit their first 3-pointer of the game early in the second half, however, Bucknell stood pat and held an 18-point lead with eleven minutes remaining.

That’s when BU senior forward Anthony Morales took over the game. Morales scored 14 points in the last ten minutes of play, including three 3-pointers.

The Terriers, however, could not build on Morales’ performance, and never got within six points after trailing by as much as 20 in the second half.

“We’re not going to grow as a team if we’re just going to get him the ball and he’s going to shoot the ball every time down the floor,” Jones said. “You’re not gonna win games that way.”

The Terriers got close late, but Bucknell was flawless at the free throw line, not missing one shot all night.

Although they shot more efficiently in the second half, it was too little, too late for the Terriers as they fell, 73-57.

“Defensively we were not great in this game either,” Jones said. “We’re averaging like 39 percent (shooting) as a team, you know, so if somebody’s going to shoot 46 percent against us we’re gonna have a hard time.”

BU will look to rebound from the loss on Saturday at 2 p.m. as they travel to take on Colgate (10-8, 4-1 PL).