Men's Basketball Battles Red-Hot Terriers Saturday in Boston

Saturday, February 14

Boston, Mass.

1 p.m.

Bucknell University

Boston University

Photo by: Steven Schoenfelder

Men's Basketball Battles Red-Hot Terriers Saturday in Boston

2/13/2026 7:36:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (8-18, 5-8 PL) at Boston University (11-15, 6-7 PL)
When: Saturday, Feb. 14, 1 p.m.
Where: Case Gym, Boston, Mass.
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Eagle 107 and BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: GoTerriers.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
TICKETS

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Just two weeks removed from a wild double-overtime affair at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell and Boston University get together again in Boston on Saturday afternoon. The Bison won that marathon 103-97 on Jan. 31. They quickly followed that result with another heart-stopping win at American, courtesy of Achile Spadone's 3-point buzzer-beater, but Bucknell has dropped its last two to the top two teams in the Patriot League, Navy and Colgate. Meanwhile, Boston University has not lost since then. The Terriers turned right back around on short rest and won on the road at Holy Cross, and then they beat Loyola at home and Army on the road. Those wins came by margins of 8, 11, and 17 points.

Both teams have five games remaining in the regular season. The Bison have three on the road and two at home in the closing stretch. They are currently tied for seventh place with Lafayette but are just one game out of fourth and two out of third.

Saturday's game will feature a battle of young German centers, as Bucknell's 6'11" freshman Amon Dörries (Potsdam) goes up against Boston University's 7'0" sophomore Ben Defty (Berlin). Both players have spent time with Germany's age-group national teams at international tournaments. Dörries leads the Bison in scoring at 15.1 ppg, and in Patriot League play he averages 17.5 ppg. Dörries scored a Bucknell freshman-record 36 points in the first matchup with the Terriers. Defty scores at a 14.9 ppg clip and ranks second in Division I in field-goal percentage at 70.3%, trailing only another Patriot League center in Navy's Aidan Kehoe (74.2%). Defty had a 26-point game earlier this month against Lehigh, and he had 24 points on 9-for-10 shooting in a rout of Army on Wednesday.

Bucknell's top two scorers in PL play are freshmen: Dörries (17.5 ppg) and Pat Curtin (14.5 ppg). Dörries scored 25 points in last Saturday's loss to Colgate, his third straight game and sixth this season with 20+ points. There are six freshmen who rank in the top 25 in the Patriot League in scoring (all games), and three of them will be on the floor on Saturday.

Patriot League Freshman Scoring Leaders, 2025-26
1. Amon Dörries, Bucknell   15.1
2. Andrew Alekseyenko, Colgate   14.7
3. Chance Gladden, Boston U. 13.8
4. Emmett Adair, Loyola 13.5
5. Madden Collins, American   13.2
6. Pat Curtin, Bucknell 11.7

The Bison have been playing without as many as five scholarship players for the bulk of the season. Bucknell has now lost 92 man-games due to injury this season. Boston University has also been bitten by the injury bug, with season-ending injuries to All-Patriot Leaguer Kyrone Alexander, starting forward Otto Landrum, key veterans Matai Baptiste and Ethan Okwuosa, and freshman Andrew Bhesania. The Terriers have been using seven players in games over the last several weeks.

The Terriers feature one of the league's premier 3-point shooters in Michael McNair, who leads the PL with 83 made threes and ranks second in the PL and fourth nationally in percentage at 45.6%. The Bison have struggled to defend the 3-point line this season, and now they face a team that leads the league and ranks 13th nationally at 38.7%. McNair leads the team in scoring at 16.4 ppg, followed by Defty (14.9) and freshmen Chance Gladden (13.8) and Sam Hughes (9.5). Gladden tallied 34 points in Lewisburg two weeks ago.

Bucknell assistant coach Matt Griffin played two seasons at Boston University after transferring from Rider. Griffin captained the team as a senior in 2011-12, and he was part of the Terriers' America East championship team in 2010-11. Coincidentally, that Boston University team played Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, just like older brother John for Bucknell in 2005.

Bucknell and Boston University have met 30 times previously, and the Bison have a 17-13 lead in the series. Bucknell is 9-6 at home in the series, 7-7 on the road, and 1-0 at neutral sites. In games played in Boston, Bucknell is 2-1 at Agganis Arena and 5-6 at Case Gym.

The two teams met for the first time at the 2005 Cable Car Classic at Santa Clara. The Bison won that one 63-57 behind 20 points from Chris McNaughton and 15 from Charles Lee. The Bison and Terriers split the two meetings last season, with the home team winning each time. Boston University won 85-82 in overtime at Case Gym, and then Bucknell prevailed 76-60 at Sojka Pavilion.

In this season's first meeting at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 31, Bucknell prevailed 103-97 in double overtime behind a freshman-record 36 points from Dörries, 24 from Spadone, and 22 from Curtin. The Terriers also had a huge freshman performance as Chance Gladden scored a team-high 34 points, 20 coming after the end of regulation, as the two teams traded jabs throughout the extra sessions. Both teams were shorthanded due to injury, as Boston University used only seven players and Bucknell eight in the 50-minute game. Still, both teams were terrific offensively down the stretch. The game was tied at 67 at the end of regulation, and then the Bison outscored the Terriers 36-30 across the two five-minute overtime periods. Bucknell made 11 of its 15 overtime field goal attempts and 11 of 13 free throws. The 22 points in the second OT session were three shy of the school record for an extra period. Dörries' 36 points set a new Sojka Pavilion single-game scoring record for a Bucknell player. Curtin added 10 rebounds, securing his first career double-double, while Jayden Williams played all but 33 seconds of the 50-minute contest, handing out eight assists without committing a turnover, while scoring seven points and grabbing five rebounds.

Bucknell returns home on Wednesday to face American at 7 p.m. The Bison will be going for the season sweep after winning 60-59 in dramatic fashion in D.C. on Feb. 4.