OPENING TIP
- The Leopards finally face off with Boston U. for the first time this season on Wednesday night, the last Patriot League opponent Lafayette has not faced at least once in 2018-19. Lafayette will look to snap a season-long four-game skid against the Terriers, a unit that has won each of its last two games to move to 4-6 in Patriot League play.

- Lafayette is eyeing a turnaround in the series with the Terriers, having won in Boston just once since the home side entered the Patriot League for the 2013-14 season. 

- Senior Paulius Zalys is bidding to become the 45th player in Lafayette history to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career. Zalys currently sits at 956 career points, averaging 11.3 per game since the start of league play. An average of at least 4.9 points per outing the rest of the way will see Zalys accomplish the feat.

LAST TIME OUT
Lafayette couldn't get much going offensively and Bucknell made the Leopards pay on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center, as the Leopards dropped a 94-66 contest.

Sophomores Alex Petrie and Justin Jaworski netted 16 and 12 points, respectively, as Lafayette's top offensive threats on Saturday, while senior co-captain Paulius Zalys added 11. Bucknell's Kimbal Mackenzie led all scorers with 31 points, including 14 from the foul line.

The Leopards struggled offensively to the tune of a field-goal percentage at 34.3 percent (24-of-70) and went just 7-of-28 from beyond the three-point line (25.0%). Bucknell shot just under 50 percent for the contest (49.3%) and carried a 48-38 edge on the glass.

THE SKINNY ON THE TERRIERS
Boston U. is finally starting to play like a team picked in the top half of the league standings in the Patriot League Preseason poll. After starting conference play with a 2-6 mark, the Terriers have turned it around in the last two contests, defeating Holy Cross at home and Colgate on the road, the first home loss for the Raiders this season. The Terriers are 11-12 overall and 4-6 in conference play entering Wednesday evening's tilt.

The home side features three predominant scorers, led by Max Mahoney's 16.9 points per outing. Mahoney also paces the Terriers on the glass at 6.1 boards per game. Tyler Scanlon, an honorable mention for Patriot League Player of the Week after a pair of double-doubles this past week, is putting up 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest this season, while Javante McCoy rounds out the double-figure scoring at 10.8 points per night to go along with 2.6 assists per game.

LAST MEETING
Lafayette couldn't put two consistent halves together on Feb. 21, 2018 in Boston, Mass., as Boston U. took advantage of second-half struggles to send the Leopards to an 81-65 defeat. The Maroon and White, entering the second half with a five-point advantage, could never get going in the final stanza, managing just 24 points in the last 20 minutes. 

Lafayette was led offensively by Alex Petrie with 13 points, followed by Paulius Zalys with 11. Matt Klinewski '18 managed eight points and nine boards, while Lukas Jarrett chipped in with three steals. The Leopards shot 27-of-57 on the night (47.4%) and 8-of-22 from beyond the arc (36.4%).

On the other side, Boston U. registered four players in double-figure scoring, led by 21 from freshman point guard Javante McCoy. Cedric Hankerson, Max Mahoney and Walter Whyte followed with 17, 16 and 14 points, respectively.

LAFAYETTE-BU...FINALLY
Boston U. is the final Patriot League opponent the Leopards have not seen on their schedule until Wednesday as the conference schedule is a little different this year than in prior seasons. The Leopards played twice against both Army and Lehigh before seeing Bucknell or Boston U. once, and will have just a four-game break before facing the Bison and Terriers again at the end of February and beginning of March. 

BEAST WEEK
Saturday's loss to Bucknell marked the third of three straight for the Maroon and White against teams at least tied for first in the Patriot League standings when the game was played. The Leopards dropped a 69-63 decision to Army on Jan. 26 and fell by a 93-86 score in overtime on Jan. 30 to Lehigh. 

HOT ICE
Freshman Isaac Suffren has made an immediate impact for the Leopards this season in his rookie campaign, especially against Lehigh on Jan. 30. Suffren tallied a career-high 16 points on his first multi-three game of the year, going 2-of-3 from distance and 6-of-9 from the field overall. The Charlotte, North Carolina native has started in 14 and appeared in all 21 games this season for the Maroon and White, averaging 6.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest.

COUNT ON PETRIE
Sophomore Alex Petrie, the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year, has been incredibly consistent since arriving on College Hill in 2017. A single digit in the scoring column has appeared next to Petrie's name just four times in his last 38 games, averaging 18.3 points per night in league play last season and 14.5 per night in league contests so far in 2018-19. 

MISSING MYLES
Lafayette has missed junior Myles Cherry greatly over the past six games, with the loss felt the hardest on the glass. Prior to his injury, Cherry was ranked in the top five in the Patriot League in offensive rebounding at 2.1 offensive boards per contest, and led the Leopards on the glass at 6.1 total rebounds per contest. With Cherry on the floor, Lafayette carried a +0.2 rebounding margin, averaging 35.5 boards per game as a unit. In the last six games since he's been absent, however, Lafayette is averaging just 30.3 rebounds overall as a team and carries a rebounding margin of -8.7, winning just once over that stretch, an 84-79 overtime victory at American on Jan. 19.