Men’s Basketball: BU falls in a clash with Dartmouth
Featured Image by Alex Chen
By Austin Rayamajhi
Boston University Men’s Basketball (4-8, 0-0 PL) head home after a crushing 77-64 loss against Dartmouth Big Green Men’s Basketball (4-5, 0-0 Ivy) in Hanover.
The Terriers were looking to rebound after an overtime loss against New Hampshire and a home loss against Maine. Dartmouth was the fourth and final Ivy League opponent BU faced this season, going 2-2 against the conference.
“I think we definitely need to compete harder,” said BU Head Coach Joe Jones. “We need to be able to play with more physicality.”
Both teams struggled to score in the opening minutes, with junior guard Michael McNair scoring the first points, a three-point field goal, three minutes into the game. McNair is the Terriers’ leading scorer at 15.9 points per game and contributed a team-high 14 points against the Big Green.
Dartmouth was able to go on a run, opening the lead up to 10 points with 13 minutes left in the first half. BU fought back, briefly trying the game, but the Big Green closed out the half on a 21-10 run.
The Terriers struggled to handle the Dartmouth zone defense with McNair off the floor, trailing by 12 going into halftime. BU has had trouble handling zone defense this season, with Maine executing a similar game plan in their win against the Terriers.
“I think sometimes when you’re playing against a zone, you don’t get it inside enough,” said Jones.
The second half started with both teams trading baskets. The Terriers were able to cut the Big Green lead down to single digits with more than 14 minutes left in the game.
This was the closest BU would be the rest of the game, as Dartmouth proceeded to go on a 10-0 run to open up the lead to 19. The run was sparked by the Big Green’s defense, as the Terriers could not handle the full-court pressure and zone looks of Dartmouth.
The Big Green pushed the lead up to 22 points, the largest of the game, with three and a half minutes left in the game. BU closed the game on a 13-4 run, but it came too little too late for any hopes of a comeback.
Sophomore guard Kareem Thomas dominated the game for Dartmouth, scoring 22 points on an ultra-efficient 7 for 9 shooting, going 5 for 5 from three-point range. The three-point shooting between the two teams was the difference, with BU going 8 for 30 compared to the 12 for 31 from Dartmouth.
“I really thought that was the difference in the game,” said Jones. “Their shooters made threes, and we didn’t make threes.”
BU’s next game is back at home against Massachusetts rival UMass Lowell. The game takes place on Dec. 21 at 12 p.m. and is available to stream on ESPN+.