Goff gives Terriers boost
Fills Hankerson’s void in dominant win
BOSTON UNIV. 92 LEHIGH 81
In his four seasons at Boston University, Will Goff has been the ultimate utility man. He’s a shooter who’s seen his role change drastically. He’s in and out of the rotation. On some nights, he doesn’t even play, and on others, he’s asked to play key minutes.
Last night, it was the latter, and he came up big again.
With Cedric Hankerson, the Terriers’ best player, out because of a minor groin injury, Goff replaced him in the starting lineup and sparked BU to a 92-81 win against Lehigh at Case Gym.
“I can’t say enough about him,” BU coach Joe Jones said of Goff. “The guy’s never complained, ever, and I would have him in the rotation, out of the rotation, and he never complained. He just kept going, kept playing, kept getting better. He just knows what we have to do at a really high level. He’s been terrific. He’s had a great year.”
Goff finished with 17 points, all of which came in the first half, and he hit his first six shots — including five 3-pointers — as the Terriers (7-8, 3-1 Patriot League) dominated the opening 20 minutes with an explosive offensive barrage.
“I’m a shooter, and I’ve learned that at a young age, and I’ve learned to really accept it as my role, especially on this team,” Goff said. “When we’re moving the ball, that’s when I get most of my opportunities through the offense, and when I get an open shot, I have the confidence to take those shots and to make them. That’s what I do. That’s what I practice every day.
“It’s been a dream come true. It’s been awesome. I’ve been trying to fill those roles as much as I can. This year has been great.”
Max Mahoney led all scorers with 22 points, Tyler Scanlon added 17 — all in the second half — and Walter Whyte logged his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Trailing 14-13 early in the first half after Lehigh’s Jordan Cohen made back-to-back buckets, BU exploded offensively thanks to Goff’s spark.
Goff made back-to-back 3-pointers to force a Mountain Hawks timeout, but the Terriers weren’t close to being finished. Aided by strong defense, Mahoney converted an andone before knocking down a jumper to make it an 11-2 Terriers run.
Little-used freshman Andrew Petcash joined the party with a 3-pointer before Mahoney cleaned up his own miss to give the Terriers a 32-20 lead. Goff then nailed three consecutive triples to make it 41-22, and the Terriers were running away with it as they led by as many as 25.
“We were doing a good job of moving the ball, just looking at what we could take advantage of,” Jones said. “We got into a nice rhythm, and defensively we were getting stops, so it got us into transition a little bit. The game became a little looser for us.”
BU outscored Lehigh (7-8, 2-2) 36-11 after its early deficit, and it actually proved critical. Led by Pat Andree and Lance Tejada, the Mountain Hawks scored 56 points in the second half, which included 12 3-pointers. They closed their deficit to nine with about a minute to go, but it was too late.
“Some of the shots they made, there’s nothing you can do other than tackle the guy,” Jones joked. “Javante (McCoy) tried.”
The victory was Jones’ 200th as a head coach as the Terriers bounced back from a loss at Loyola on Friday.
“It was a great team win, and doing that without arguably our best player was significant,” Jones said.