JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Boosted by 12 3-pointers and a strong rebounding effort, the Boston University men's basketball captured the Jax Bracket championship with a 72-59 wire-to-wire victory over Sam Houston State on Monday afternoon at UNF Arena in The Jacksonville Classic by Fabletics.

Claiming a regular season trophy outside Massachusetts for the first time in 25 years since winning a 1996 tournament hosted by South Florida, the Terriers improve to 4-2, while the Bearkats drop to 2-3. Graduate student Javante McCoy was named the bracket's MVP after tallying a team-high 14 points and three assists following his 18-point, seven-assist performance in Sunday's tournament-opening win over Northern Illinois (76-58). 

Senior Jonas Harper matched McCoy's 3-point shooting with an identical 4-of-6 game en route to 12 points, while classmate Fletcher Tynen recorded 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Graduate student Sukhmail Mathon was one point shy of a double-double with 11 points, while sophomore Miles Brewster produced a personal-best eight points off the bench behind two 3-pointers. 

It was a strong offensive performance for BU, who finished the game shooting 24-of-48 FG (.500), 12-of-20 3FG (.600) and 12-of-17 FT (.706), while the Bearkats went 25-of-62 FG (.403), 6-of-23 3FG (.261) and 3-of-6 FT (.500). Texas A&M transfer Savion Flagg led the Bearkats with 15 points, while Tristan Ikpe recorded 10 points and six rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• McCoy flushed a 3-pointer to spark a game-opening 11-2 run capped by junior Nevin Zink's driving layup at 13:15.
• Brewster converted on a fastbreak opportunity with a layup for his own to extend the lead to 18-5 at 8:49.
• Zink's two free throws put the Terriers ahead, 23-8, with 7:11 left in the half.
• The Bearkats chipped away and eventually cut the deficit to five (25-20) on Kuba Karwowski's layup set up by Ikpe's offensive rebound.
• Brewster responded with a 3-pointer, and sophomore Anthony Morales added a layup to enter the locker room leading, 30-20.
• Facing a 41-29 deficit with 15:47 remaining in regulation, Flagg hit a jumper to ignite an 8-0 spurt capped by Ray's steal and fast break layup at 11:48.
• Junior Ethan Brittain-Watts responded with three straight free throws, but Flagg came right back with a 3-pointer.
• BU created distance on an 8-0 run of its own with McCoy flushing back-to-back treys for a 52-40 lead at 9:53.
• The Bearkats tried to mount a rally and pulled within eight, 67-59, at 1:51 on Ikpe's steal and slam dunk, but Tynen put the game away with a layup and bonus free throw on BU's next possession.

GAME NOTES

• Tynen posted 10+ points in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
• BU was without senior Walter Whyte due to injury, and junior Nevin Zink had to be helped off the court after starting his first game as a Terrier and tallying seven points in 15 minutes of action.
• The Terriers won their first-ever meeting with the Bearkats and defeated a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) opponent for the first time since a 2010 win over Nevada.
• SHSU outscored BU off turnovers (17-10) and in the paint (34-24), but BU doubled the Bearkats in made 3-pointers (12-6) and posted a 39-25 advantage in rebounds.

UP NEXT

• The Terriers will conclude their participation in the Jacksonville Classic with a visit to Florida State on Wednesday (Nov. 24) with the ACC Network broadcast slated for 7 p.m.
• BU won the first-ever meeting between the two programs back in 2002 with a 84-69 victory in the opening round of a tournament hosted by Arizona.