Men’s Basketball: Terriers Look to Bounce Back on the Road Against Columbia

By Jacob Trapanese

Boston University men’s basketball suffered its first home loss of the season against Merrimack on Saturday, moving to 2-2 on the year. The Terriers look to rebound against Columbia (2-1) in New York City on Tuesday.

The Terriers are coming off a 91-79 loss to Merrimack on Saturday, a game where they allowed the Warriors to shoot 63% from three. BU had no answer for Merrimack’s Ernest Shelton, who went off for 33 points on 10 of 13 shooting, including going 9 of 12 from distance. Kevair Kennedy also chipped in 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists for the Warriors. BU had four of its five starters score in double figures, led by Michael McNair with 21 points. Chance Gladden also had a near triple-double, tallying 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists in just his fourth career game in college. Each starter played at least 30 minutes, with Azmar Abdullah and Quinn Nielsen being the only players available off the bench.

The Terriers have been decimated by injuries this season, already down to eight healthy players and a seven-man rotation. They have been without Otto Landrum and Matai Baptiste since the preseason and added injuries to Kyrone Alexander vs. Northeastern in their opener, Ethan Okwuosa, and Malcolm Chimezie on Wednesday vs. Brown.

Columbia returns five of their top six scorers from last season and 54.4% of their minutes, a figure that ranks 10th in the nation according to KenPom. BU isn’t far behind at 47.7%, ranking 26th in the country. The Lions are led by their two double-digit scorers, Kenny Noland and Zine Edine Ebbri. They are also top 80 in three-point shooting and top 50 in both defensive and offensive rebounding, according to KenPom.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Tuesday at Levien Gymnasium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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