Boston University men’s basketball team will host American University in the Patriot League quarterfinals on Thursday night at Case Gym, known as “The Roof.” The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. and marks the second meeting between the teams in less than a week.
Boston University (BU), seeded fourth, secured its position after a close 68-65 victory over American last Saturday, finishing February with a 7-1 record. This win helped BU clinch the No. 4 seed in the tournament. Earlier in January, American defeated BU at Case Gym by two points.
BU has avoided playing in the first round of the conference tournament for the tenth time in twelve years. The Terriers have an all-time record of 54-38 in conference tournaments and are 11-11 specifically in Patriot League play, including appearances in title games in 2014 and 2020. Since joining the Patriot League in 2013, BU and Colgate are the only teams to reach all thirteen quarterfinals.
The Terriers have won seven conference championships and hold a 27-17 record in quarterfinal games. Last year, they lost to Navy, who went on to be runners-up. At home during Patriot League matchups, BU has an 11-5 record.
As a No. 4 seed, BU is even at two wins and two losses historically and previously reached a title game from this position with an upset against Stony Brook.
This season, three BU players received All-Patriot League honors. Michael McNair was named to the First Team and leads BU with an average of 17 points per game. He set a program single-season record with 102 three-pointers—third most ever in league history—and ranks ninth nationally this year for total threes made. His three-point shooting percentage stands at sixth nationally.
Ben Defty earned Second Team recognition by leading the team with six double-doubles while averaging nearly seven rebounds and almost fifteen points per game. He also recorded fifty-two blocks this season.
Freshman Chance Gladden made both All-League Third Team and All-Rookie Team—the first Terrier freshman since 2012-13 to do so—while leading his team with nearly five assists per game alongside fourteen points per contest.
Other contributors include Sam Hughes (9.6 ppg) and Azmar Abdullah (8.5 ppg), whose combined three-point shooting helps place BU among national leaders for both makes per game (9.6) and percentage (.395). Overall, BU averages seventy-six points per game while allowing seventy-four from opponents.
American University enters as the fifth seed with a road record of five wins out of fourteen games but includes several victories over league opponents such as Army, Holy Cross, Bucknell, Lafayette—and Boston University itself earlier this season. Notably, American handed regular season champion Navy its only loss back on January 12th.
Three Eagles players average double-digit scoring: Madden Collins (13.1 ppg), Greg Jones (12.5 ppg), and Julian Iturbe (10.4 ppg). Collins was recognized on both All-League Third Team and Rookie Team rosters this year.
In their head-to-head history, Boston leads seventeen games to eleven; however, American holds two PL tournament wins over BU—in both cases as road victories during past postseason meetings.
The winner of Thursday’s matchup will advance to face either top-seeded Navy or eighth-seeded Bucknell on Sunday afternoon in the semifinals broadcasted by CBS Sports Network.
