After dropping its first contest in its opening six games heading into a showdown with Boston University (BU) at Case Gymnasium tonight, the Harvard men’s basketball team could have used a helping hand.

Now, it turns out, the Crimson (5-1) will have to deal with a hurt one.

Junior center Brian Cusworth has a small fracture of the third metacarpal on his left hand. Cusworth suffered the injury during the first half of Harvard’s 87-79 loss to Central Connecticut State on Saturday.

“It was a hustle play,” Cusworth said. “I dove on the floor and got tangled up.”

Cusworth stayed in the game, finishing 5-of-11 from the field for 13 points. He also added six rebounds and three blocks in the defeat.

“It was adrenaline,” Cusworth said. “I could feel it, but I knew I needed to be out there.”

Last year, Cusworth fractured his left thumb and missed the final four games of the non-conference slate before returning for Harvard’s Ivy opener against Dartmouth.

“We’ve been through it before,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “We’ve lost him for an entire season (2003-04), and we’ve lost him for the same amount of time that could be projected now.”

The timetable for the seven-footer’s return is indefinite at this point, though he will definitely miss tonight’s game against the Terriers (0-5). Sullivan was hesitant to speculate, but Cusworth indicated that it could be anywhere from one to three weeks. Cusworth was seen wearing a cast on the hand at yesterday’s practice, but the question of whether he could play with the injury still remained unresolved.

“I don’t think so,” said Cusworth when asked if playing would exacerbate the injury. “I think it would just be dealing with the pain and trying to overcome that.”

The Crimson takes on No. 6 Boston College on Dec. 22, which would be right on the fringe of that three-week estimate.

“I don’t want to miss that game for the world,” Cusworth said. “But we’ll see what the doctors say.”

In the meantime, junior Brian Darcy will fill the open slot in the starting rotation. Darcy has seen the floor for just less than eight minutes a contest thus far and has seen the most time at the four and five spots of any of the reserves. The 6’8 forward has shown some toughness and strong post moves in limited action this season.

“Darcy will step up just fine,” captain Matt Stehle said. “He’s played well in the limited action he’s gotten this year, so we have full confidence in him, and we’re not worried about that.”

The thin frontcourt will force senior Zach Martin to help out at the power forward spot after he was moved to his more natural three position during the offseason. Martin responded well to his new role, knocking down the second most trifectas on the team and becoming the squad’s top scorer off the bench. But Martin’s experience at the four should help the Crimson better cope with Cusworth’s absence. “He did a great job filling in during the UNH game at the four, and he’s used to having to play out of position.”

Other than the lineup shifts, Harvard’s gameplan has not changed for its meeting with BU. The Crimson knows it must handle the Terriers’ pressure, contain their explosive backcourt, and prevent them from getting hot behind the arc. The failure to execute in those areas has led to back-to-back 44- and 37-point losses to BU over the past two seasons.

“They’ve definitely embarrassed us the last two years,” Stehle said. “Even for the guys who aren’t with the program anymore, I’m sure they’d like to see us beat them at their place.”

Freshman guard Corey Hassan currently ranks second on the Terriers in scoring and can light it up from behind the arc. Senior forward Kevin Gardner leads BU in scoring and rebounding, providing a tough matchup for the Crimson inside.

The Terriers’ winless record masks the squad’s talent, as two of the losses came to ranked opponents (No. 1 Duke and No. 19 George Washington) while the other three were at the expense of Michigan, Rhode Island, and Rider.

“When you play the top competition, it can only make you better and can lead to permanent improvement,” Sullivan said.

Harvard has lost the last four meetings between the two schools and hasn’t won a road game in this series since 1975-76.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.