After recognizing seniors Otto Landrum and Ben Roy, the Boston University men’s basketball team will host Bucknell on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Case Gym.
Boston University (11-15, 6-7 Patriot League) is currently on a three-game winning streak. The Terriers started this run with a 72-64 win at Holy Cross, followed by a 78-69 home victory against Loyola Maryland, and most recently an 85-68 win at Army West Point.
Junior Michael McNair leads the Terriers with an average of 16.4 points per game and is shooting 45.6 percent from three-point range. He has made 83 three-pointers this season, which puts him just 12 away from tying John Papale’s program record set in 2016.
Sophomore Ben Defty is on track to break the school’s record for field goal percentage, currently holding a mark of 70.3 percent. He leads the team with six double-doubles and averages 14.9 points and a team-high seven rebounds per game.
Freshman Chance Gladden has contributed significantly as well, averaging 13.8 points and 4.8 assists per game. He recorded his second double-double of the season against Army West Point with 14 points and eleven assists.
The Terriers are averaging just over seventy-six points per game while shooting nearly fifty percent from the field this season; those numbers have increased during conference play.
Bucknell (8-18, 5-8 Patriot League) enters Saturday’s matchup looking to avoid its third straight loss. The Bison have struggled away from home this year but secured road wins over Mount St. Mary’s, Rider, and American University.
Four Bucknell players are averaging double figures in scoring this season. Forward Amon Dorries leads the team with fifteen points per game while guard Pat Curtin adds nearly twelve points per contest. Ruot Bijek has not played since January tenth but was averaging almost twelve points before his absence; Achile Spodone contributes more than ten points along with a team-best six rebounds per game.
Bucknell averages just over sixty-seven points per game overall but improves slightly in conference play to more than seventy points each outing.
In their all-time series history, Bucknell holds a seventeen-to-thirteen advantage over Boston University; home teams have won each of the last three meetings between these programs.
Last year’s contests included high-scoring affairs: Bucknell defeated BU in double overtime by scoring more than one hundred points—the first time an opponent had done so since nineteen ninety-four—while BU claimed an overtime victory later that year after Landrum tied it late in regulation.
Looking ahead, Boston University will quickly return to action when they host Colgate on Monday night for a CBS Sports Network broadcast scheduled for six o’clock.
