Saturday, November 29, 2008

Huskies Go Cold In Florida


The trip to Florida did not turn out the way the Huskies had planned, from beginning to end.

After arriving in the airport, the team loaded their bags on the bus. The only problem was, the battery on the bus was dead. So the Huskies were stuck in the parking lot of the Tampa Airport. The shoot around time was approaching fast, so the team got dressed and taped for practice right in the parking lot. About a half an hour later, the team was picked up by a small shuttle bus and taken to the Sun Dome. It was not the way they wanted to start their trip.

At the hotel, the atmosphere was great. The team was greeted by Chris Alvarez’s family. Alvarez, a native of Miami, FL was happy to be back in his home state and with his family. Everyone was excited to get back on the floor after Tuesday night’s loss, and the Huskies had a good shot of coming away with a victory.

For the Huskies, Saturday night was just one of those nights. Nothing could go in the basket for Northeastern, scoring only 11 points at the half on 13.8 percent shooting (4-29). But the Bulls only scored 22 themselves in the first half.

The second half was more of the same for the Huskies. Shots just simply would not fall, and the Huskies lost 55-37. Manny Adako scored 10 points, before fouling out, out, while Matt Janning scored only 3 points for the Huskies, who have now lost the last two games.

Head coach Bill Coen expressed to the team that these nights happen. He was extremely pleased with the defensive effort, but you just can’t explain shooting 24 percent for the game. The Huskies did what they wanted to do on defense, and the low scoring game suited their style, but they just could not score.

It does not get any easier for the Huskies, as the Rhode Island Rams come into Matthew’s Arena on Wednesday night. The Rams played the Duke Blue Devils down to the final possession at Cameron Indoor Stadium earlier this season, and just lost a close game tonight with Villanova. The Huskies will be glad to get home, hopefully the rims at Matthew’s Arena will be a little friendlier.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Huskies Fall to Terriers

On Tuesday night, the Huskies fell hard to the BU Terriers.

The Terriers came out firing, with Corey Lowe bringing the biggest gun. Lowe started out hot, scoring 23 first half points. A Matt Janning fade away jump shot at the buzzer gave the Huskies a 40-39 lead at the half.

In the second half, it was Jake O’Brien’s turn to lead the charge. The Terriers scored on their first three possessions of the second half, with O’Brien scoring 5 of the 8 total points in the stretch. BU led 49-45 at the under 16:00 timeout. With 10:00 to go, the Terriers led 59-49, but the Huskies would not go away without a fight. They cut the lead to 62-57 at the under 8:00 timeout, but the Terriers were too hot to handle.

Aided by O’Brien’s 21 point half, the Terriers won 83-75 Tuesday night, handing the Huskies their second loss of the season (3-2). BU shot 57% from three in the second half, and tied a school record with 15 total three-pointers. Corey Lowe led the way with 27 points, followed by O’Brien with 21 and John Holland’s 17 points. Matt Janning scored 22 for the Huskies, while Chaisson Allen scored 14 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Also, freshman Erik Etherly recorded his first collegiate points, hitting a one handed put back late in the second half.

If it was not something, it was something else on Tuesday night. Lowe scored 23 first half points, but only scored 4 second half points. Jake O’Brien scored 0 first half points, then scored 21 second half points. The Huskies just could not cool off the hot Terriers. They also could not connect from the charity stripe, shooting 15-26.

The frustrated Huskies will try to regroup and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner, but it will be hard to do with this bad taste in their mouths. Next, the team will be off to Tampa, Florida where they will look to knock off another Big East opponent, the University of South Florida Bulls (2-1) on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

NU Tops Holy Cross

The Huskies exacted their revenge on Holy Cross Saturday night in their home opener at Matthew’s Arena.

All week the mood had been very serious in practice and in the locker room. Last year, the Crusaders hosted the Huskies for a game on ESPN’s BracketBusters Saturday. The Huskies were defeated 61-47 in Worcester last year, but this year was a much different story.

It was payback time for the Huskies. Northeastern led from start to finish, and jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Holy Cross did not score their first basket until 12:47 in the first half. Despite their slow start, the Crusaders made a run and cut the lead to 24-21 with 5:57 left to play in the first half. But the Huskies, led by Matt Janning’s 27 points, entered the half up 33-25.

The Huskies continued to have their way with the Crusaders in the second half. Janning hit one of his 4 threes to make the lead 53-35 with under 10:00 to play. Nkem Ojougboh added 12 points and Manny Adako scored 9.

Now the Huskies will look to improve to 4-1 when they take on Boston University on Tuesday night at Matthew’s Arena.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Battle of Boston

Come see the Huskies battle their city rival Boston University tonight at 8 p.m. at Matthew's Arena

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Huskies Light Up Friars

On Saturday night the Northeastern Huskies earned their first victory over Providence College since 1926.

Before traveling to Providence on Friday night, the Huskies practiced and watched film on the Friars. They then drove and hour to the Biltmore Hotel in the heart of downtown Providence. As if the Huskies weren’t excited enough, the hotel added extra. The players loved the size of the rooms, beds, and most importantly the television.

Saturday morning the Huskies went down the street to shoot around at the newly renovated Dunkin Donuts Center. It was going to be the Huskies third game of the week, and the coaching staff was working tirelessly to prepare the team for all possible opponents while trying to still have a focus of the Providence game at the end of the week. But anyone who knows this coaching staff knows that they prepare extremely well for all opponents.

The city was buzzing. It was a new beginning, so to speak, for the Friars. They were fresh off of hiring their new head coach, Keno Davis. It was the first official game in the Dunkin Donuts Center for the Friars. Point guard Sharaud Curry was healthy and poised to play his first full season in over a year. There were new seats, luxury boxes, and locker rooms. Everything was scripted out for a nice celebration. The Huskies did not get an invitation to the party, so they crashed it.

Eugene Spates started off the game with a three-pointer. The Huskies are now 2-0 this year when starting the game with a Spates three-pointer. An 8-0 run by the Friars capped off by a Jonathan Kale lay up made it 13-5 in Providence’s favor. It looked like it was going to get out of hand quick, but the Huskies did not fold.
The Huskies kept chipping away and finally took the lead after a 6-0 run making it 20-19 with 3:31 left in the first half. At halftime, the Huskies were on top 26-25.

Here they were again very much in the game, this time in the lead, on the road at a BCS conference school. The energy in the locker room was contagious. We all believed it could be done. Coach Coen ran through some changes briefly, but mainly spoke of one thing. This night was not about them, it was about us. It was about what this team is capable of. It was about holding each other accountable, and playing to our potential. It was about a total team effort, from the guys on the floor and the guys on the bench.

The players took this speech to heart and came out firing in the second half. Matt Janning scored a quick 9 points in the first few minutes of the half. Baptiste Bataille nailed a three-pointer, and suddenly the Huskies found themselves up 11 with 9:11 left to play. But just when it looked like the Friars had given up, they came right back.

Brian McKenzie connected on three three-pointers in a little over two minutes to cut the lead down to three. The place was electrified. People were on their feet and cheering once again, but the Huskies kept fighting. But so did the Friars, tying the game up at 57 after a three-pointer by Geoff McDermott.

Baptiste Bataille, who seemed to be everywhere at once, answered back with a three of his own to make it 60-57 Huskies with just 3:55 to play. After a Jonathan Kale free-throw, it was 60-58 Huskies. The crowd was on their feet, screaming for the defense to stop the Huskies. But Eugene Spates, who had 17 points, hit one of his career high five three from way behind the arc, to make it 63-58.

Providence answered again with a Kale lay up, making it 63-60. Weyinmi Efejuku then stole the ball on the Friar press, and hit a lay up plus the foul to tie the game at 63. And then it happened, the shot. The fans were on their feet, louder than they had been the whole night. But the Huskies ran their offense smoothly and calmly. It looked like practice. Chaisson Allen dribbled the ball, off of a screen and swung it to Matt Janning. Janning, who finished with 24 points, drained a three from, exactly, the end of the coach’s box. The Northeastern bench erupted. So did the traveling section of fans. Everyone else was dead silent.

The Huskies needed one defensive stop to get the win that they have been so close to for the past two years. But a foul put it in jeopardy. Brian McKenzie missed his second free-throw however, and the Janning grabbed the rebound. The Friars fouled, and Chaisson Allen made one of two free-throws to make it 67-64. Allen then stole the ball, and was fouled again. This time he hit both, along with two more from Baptiste Bataille, and the Huskies were in the lead 70-66. The Friars tried one last desperation throw in, but Eugene Spates stole the ball and the Huskies won.

Janning threw the ball up in excitement, and the players wildly embraced. The locker room was booming with noise. After being so close so many times, this group had finally gotten a big non-conference win. It was an extremely enjoyable scene afterwards, and on the bus ride home.

If you ask Bill Coen about this, or any, victory he will tell you about how the players earned it. But not enough can be said about coach Coen and his staff. The amount of preparation and the depth of that preparation which goes into each game is extremely daunting. Congratulations to coach Coen and his staff for one of their biggest wins at Northeastern, with hopefully many more to come.

Michigan Downs NU






Wednesday night the Huskies were defeated by the Michigan Wolverines at Crisler Arena.
The Huskies jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but the Wolverines answered with a 14-2 run of their own. With 3:02 left in the first half, the Huskies trailed 25-20. By halftime, the score was 29-23 in Michigan’s favor.
Being down only 6 on the road in the Big Ten at halftime, the Huskies were very much in it. But the second half was a whole different animal. The Huskies got within four points, but that would be as close as they would get. From there the lead stretched to 11, but the Huskies brought it back down to 8 courtesy of Matt Janning. But Manny Harris and the Wolverines, aided by their home crowd, blew the game open from there going on an 8-0 run.
Harris just could not stay off of the foul line. He shot a total of 14 free-throws, sinking 13 of them. Harris scored 26 points, to go along with 10 rebounds and 8 assists. The Wolverines were hitting all of their shots, while the Huskies couldn’t buy a bucket. Northeastern shot 29 percent from the field, including 4-24 from behind the arc. Michigan closed the doors to Madison Square Garden, winning 76-56.
Needless to say, the locker room was yet again not that loud. The Huskies again came so close to a marquee win, and again fell short. Coach Coen was disappointed with their play, but told the team that it was just one game and it was still only November 12th. There is still a lot of basketball to be played.
There was really not even enough time to sleep away the loss. The wake up call for Thursday morning was 4:45 a.m., so most did not go to sleep. Players packed their bags and tried to relax after a tough night. It was a very silent ride back. But this silence was not one of defeat, more of disappointment and determination. As players and staff, this group has come close to so many huge victories on the road against BCS conference schools, but has yet to win one. The desire and hunger for such a win has never been greater.

Huskies Defeat IUPUI


On Tuesday night, the Huskies started their season off the right way, with a win.

Crisler Arena was the opening venue for the Huskies as they defeated IUPUI in the first round of the 2KSports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.

The Huskies left Boston on Monday afternoon, flying out of Logan Airport. It seemed like it was Christmas Eve for the team, as they anxiously sat in the airport waiting to board and get to Ann Arbor.

Once they landed in Detroit, the Huskies boarded the bus to the hotel in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After a quick stretching session with Art, the team trainer, dinner was served with a side of game film on IUPUI.

Tuesday morning was the first time the Huskies entered Crisler Arena. Driving to the arena was quite an experience. When you drive up the street, you drive by Michigan Stadium, or “The Big House”. The team entrance is also right behind the stadium, which was really impressive to see. Northeastern was put in the Michigan football coaches’ locker room, but nobody put their things in Rich Rodriguez’s locker.

The shoot around and walkthrough seemed to go on forever, since the start of a new season was only hours away. But there was no doubt about the focus of this group. A pre-game meal was served, and one last film session was held. It was finally time to suit up and play.

From start to finish, the Huskies led. Eugene Spates started the season off right with back to back three-pointers, the second three being a four-point play. The Huskies led 11-6 at the first media time out, and then started to distance themselves from the Jaguars. At the half, the Huskies led 32-22.

The Jaguars would not let the Huskies go without a fight, and pulled to within 6. But Vinny Lima came up huge for the Huskies with 4 straight points at a crucial point in the game. The lead was run all the way up to 17 points, and the Huskies came away with the victory 73-60.

Four of the five Huskies starters scored in double figures. Senior Eugene Spates led the way with 14 points, while Matt Janning scored 13 of his own. Nkem Ojougboh scored 12 points, and Chaisson Allen scored 11 points while dishing out 6 assists. Vinny Lima was the spark that started the fire, scoring 8 points and grabbing 4 rebounds in just 13 minutes.

After the game, the locker room was not that loud. Head coach Bill Coen made a very good point to his players. He told them that he knew why it was so quiet, and that was because this group knows what it is capable of doing. It was time to prepare for tomorrow night.

Apologies

My apologies to everyone. I have not been able to post after the last three games due to computer issues which have recently been resolved. Thanks for your patience, and again, sorry for the inconvenience.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Annual Intrasquad Scrimmage

On Thursday November 6th, the Huskies will hold their annual intrasquad scrimmage. It will be held at Solomon Court in the Cabot Center at 7 p.m. The scrimmage is open to the public and admission is free. This will be the first chance to catch a glimpse of this years team before they begin the season eight days from now on November 11th. For those who need directions, the address for the Cabot Center is 360 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115.