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The struggles of Boston University men’s basketball are truly perplexing

"We’re not playing with enough effort for 40 minutes," says BU coach Joe Jones. "That’s the biggest issue we’re having."Barry Chin/Globe Staff

Men’s college basketball in Massachusetts is like a bad winter weather report: Mostly cloudy with continuous storm warnings and only occasional breaks for sun.

Start with Boston University. The Terriers are, as Winston Churchill once said about Russia, a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. After being favored to win the Patriot League with a veteran team, BU is 2-4 after losing to Navy Sunday. It was flabbergasting to see how badly the Terriers were outplayed by the Midshipmen, a good team that beat Virginia in November but one that is not as talented as BU.

It’s difficult to detect exactly what’s wrong, why a team that’s played so well in the past — well enough to win a Patriot League championship — isn’t playing up to its potential.

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Coach Joe Jones has identified the problem.

“We’re not playing with enough effort for 40 minutes; that’s the biggest issue we’re having,” he said. “At times, we turn the ball over too much. I think the turnovers have hurt us, but it’s more our lack of consistent fight that you have to play with to win.”

He’ll continue to address the problem in his usual positive manner. That has worked for him in the past.

“I’m 56 years old, I’ve coached in a lot of games,” he said. “I’ve had seasons like this when things haven’t gone your way at the start and you get better and better and you don’t know what’s going to happen in the end.

“We’ve just got to take it one practice at a time, try to get better. I want to encourage them because I really believe in this team, that this team can win, and that’s the message I want to send.”

Statistically, there’s nothing jarring. Maybe they’re not shooting the ball as well as they once did. The fact is, this is pretty much the same team that won the Patriot League two seasons ago; they’ve yet to recapture that spirit of that season.

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Next, the Terriers face a tough road game at much-improved Loyola Wednesday night. Then they have a winnable home game against Lehigh Saturday. A sweep would indicate Jones is closer to solving the riddle.

Northeastern: What hasn’t gone wrong for the Huskies? They are an unfathomable 0-6 in the CAA. They have not had a full roster for any game, and the sad total of man-games missed is 53. Only two players, Jahmyl Telfort and Jason Strong, have played in every game. The Huskies’ best player, Shaq Walters, missed six games with an ankle injury. Tyreek Scott-Grayson, who was emerging as a key player, reinjured a shoulder and is out for the season. Joe Pridgen, another transfer who was expected to be a solid contributor, was not given a waiver by the NCAA because Northeastern is the second school he has transferred to.

Northeastern head coach Bill Coen and the Huskies are having some issues this season.Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Even coach Bill Coen tested positive for COVID and missed one game.

Ahead are two home games against a tough Hofstra team and UNC Wilmington, which is a surprising 3-0.

UMass: UMass was a much better team at home in the Calipari Center earlier this season, but after consecutive home losses to Duquesne and Rhode Island, that’s no longer true. The Minutemen are 0-4 in the Atlantic 10. They’re looking squarely at 0-6 with games against a tough Saint Louis team Thursday and Sunday.

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After he scored 21 points in a loss to Davidson, I thought T.J. Weeks might be breaking through as a scoring threat for the Minutemen, but he couldn’t duplicate the effort in the loss to Rhody, as he ended up with 6 points.

Boston College: The Eagles’ inspiring rally from a 23-point deficit to beat Clemson Saturday was unexpected, but it speaks to what coach Earl Grant said after a home loss to Georgia Tech: “The hardest thing to do is to stay the course in the face of adversity. Our character is going to be revealed in the next 45 days.”

Earl Grant and the Eagles pulled off the upset against Clemson.Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

The Eagles will have to continue to play well on the road as they travel to Louisville Wednesday night. The Cardinals have underachieved this season but are very difficult to beat in the Pitino Palace.

Harvard: The Crimson secured victories over two of the worst teams in the Ivy League, Columbia and Dartmouth. However, if Dartmouth could have executed on its final possession, it would have been a disastrous night in Hanover, N.H. A tricky road trip to Cornell awaits.

Holy Cross: Would it be wrong to say it was almost a relief to Holy Cross fans that the last three games have been postponed because of COVID problems?

UMass Lowell: The River Hawks have lost three of their last four. A visit from Maine Wednesday night might help things.

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Merrimack: The Warriors are the middle of a four-game homestand, but shooting problems have recurred, and they dropped the first two. Next is Bryant, one of the hottest teams in NEC.

Tales from the transfer portal: Carl Pierre played four years at UMass but decided to use his extra COVID season at Rice. He’s done well. He recently hit eight 3-pointers to set a school record and scored a career-high 30 points as Rice beat Marshall, 87-77. Pierre shares the team scoring lead at 15.3 points per game.

Joe Sullivan can be reached at josephsullivan1974@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeSullivan.