Huskies poor shooting proves costly

NIU drops third straight in Jacksonville Classic tournament loss to BU

Sophomore+guard+Keshawn+Williams+shoots+a+free+throw+in+NIUs+exhibition+game+on+Oct.+30.

Khavon Thomas | Northern Star

Sophomore guard Keshawn Williams shoots a free throw in NIU’s exhibition game on Oct. 30.

By Davione Barrow, Sports Reporter

DeKALB — The Huskies and the Boston University Terriers went head-to-head Sunday, with Boston defeating the Huskies 76-58.

All five of the Boston starters made it into double figures and received good effort off the bench from junior forward Nevin Zink, adding in 11 points.

Graduate guard Javante McCoy acted as the catalyst for the Terriers. McCoy finished with 18 points and seven assists, one assist shy of his career high. 

The Huskies started the game off right, with senior guard Anthony Crump getting a steal in the first minute of the game from Terrier senior forward Fletcher Tynen.

In the second minute, sophomore guard Keshawn Williams scored a layup giving the Huskies the first points of the ball game. 

Early in the contest, both teams struggled to keep control of the ball, each creating turnovers and missing a lot of jumpers. In the sixth minute, Zink scored an and-one layup coming off an assist from Terrier junior guard Garrett Pascoe. Zink knocked down the free throw to tie the game 4-4.

In the seventh minute, Huskie junior guard Kaleb Thorton made a jumper to give them a 6-5 lead over the Terriers. 

In the following Huskie possession, junior guard Darweshi Hunter made a three-point jumper off an assist from senior guard Trendon Hankerson. 

Off a missed shot by the Terriers, Thorton grabbed the rebound and made an assist to senior forward Chinedu Kingsley Okuna forcing a Terrier timeout. 

In the eighth minute, Thornton made a three-point jumper coming off an assist from Hunter to give the Huskies a seven-point lead. 

In the ninth minute, Terrier graduate forward Sukhmail Mathon blocked a shot from Okanu, leading to a made three pointer by McCoy coming off an assist from Mathon, making the score 14-10. 

In the eleventh minute, Williams would answer back, scoring a three pointer coming off an assist from Hankerson. 

The Terriers finished off the first half on a 17-5 run, with McCoy scoring and assisting on all the points in the run. Boston led, going into halftime 32-22, shooting 42% from the field going into halftime. The Huskies struggled to get shots to fall into the first half, shooting 36% and only making nine field goals. 

The Huskies were first to score coming out of halftime, with a jumper coming from Hankerson assisted by Thorton.  

The Huskies shot 20% from three-point range in the second half and finished the game with a field goal percentage of 39%.

In the second half, the Terriers shot 75% from the field and only missed five shots. In the third minute of the half, senior guard Jonas Harper scored a three-point jumper, assisted by McCoy to give the Terriers a 37-28 lead.

In the fifth minute, Zink flushed down a dunk assisted by Tynen to further extend their lead. A minute later, Tynen made a three pointer assisted by senior guard/forward Walter Whyte to give the Terriers a 42-28 lead. 

The Terriers were able to keep the Huskies at bay, outscoring NIU by four over the remainder of the game.

The Huskies will be back in action at 10 a.m. Monday to face off against the University of Little Rock in Jacksonville, Florida at the Jacksonville Classic.