You could hear it while the ball was in flight. The silence was almost deafening as Jose Juan Barea’s last second three-pointer floated through the air in slow motion. You could practically see the 2,089 fans storming the court in the high school-sized Cabot Gym.
Then came the clank, followed by the buzzer. Since shock doesn’t allow tears, there was just heartbreak and disbelief as the sellout crowed quietly left Solomon Court not daring to take another look at the scoreboard that read Catamounts 67, Huskies 65.
Although it keeps them in a tie for third place in the America East, last Thursday’s 73-61 win over Stony Brook is just an after thought for NU.
When the first place Vermont Catamounts came to town Sunday afternoon, they brought a huge game, and left with a huge win, while the Huskies have yet another huge loss.
“The game was really close, and we fought hard,” said NU coach Ron Everhart. “But, as a coach it’s hard to get your team back on track after a loss like that.”
With 1:08 left, the Huskies (14-9, 8-4) tied the game at 63-63 with a Barea layup, but Vermont’s T.J. Sorrentine answered with a clutch three-pointer 16 seconds later. Barea, however, wasn’t done yet as he drove for another layup to bring the Huskies within one. After Vermont (15-5, 11-0 AE) hit just one of two free throws, the Huskies had a chance to tie or win the game with the final shot, but a questionable no-call as Barea drove inside ended Northeastern’s hopes of handing Vermont their first conference loss of the season.
“Since Jose drives to the hoop a lot, it makes it tough for the officials, but if they’re going to call a soft foul at the other end on Javorie Wilson, you have to make the call there,” Everhart said. “Besides that, I was pretty happy with the officiating.”
At the break the Huskies held a five-point lead, but Vermont opened the second half with an 11-0 run and stole the lead for good. Barea led the way for the Huskies with 28 points and seven assists, and freshman Bobby Kelly scored 12 points hitting 3-of-4 three-pointers while playing extended minutes with Marcus Barnes being in foul trouble the majority of the game. Taylor Coppenrath scored 18 points for Vermont, six below his season average, but it was Alex Jenson’s 18 on 6-for-eight three-point shooting that sparked the Catamounts.
If there can be a bright side to such a devastating loss, it would be the fact that the basketball team sold out Solomon Court.
“The atmosphere was truly tremendous,” Everhart said. “With that many screaming fans, there isn’t a better college basketball home court than Cabot Gym.”
With the conference tournament just three short weeks away, NU fans picked a perfect time to jump on the men’s basketball bandwagon; especially with the tournament once again being held just minutes away from campus at BU’s Walter Brown Arena.
Although it may seem just a distant memory after the excitement of last weekend, last Thursday’s 73-61 win at Stony Brook’s SB Sports Complex could be the difference between third and fourth place for the Huskies.
After scoring a season-low 20 points in the first half and shooting a season-low 23 percent, the Huskies found themselves down by 15 at the break. With 15:11 left in the game, Stony Brook led 45-30. That’s when the Huskies did the unthinkable: going on a 28-3 run to take the lead, and eventually win the game. Marcus Barnes, who hadn’t scored all game, didn’t miss a shot in the second half, going 6-for-6 from the field and 5-for-5 from downtown. At the final buzzer, Barnes had 17 points, all of which were scored in the second half, and Barea had 22 to go with his seven assists. The Dogs outscored the Seawolves 53-26 in the second half while shooting a season-high 63 percent.
The Huskies next game can be seen on NESN when they travel to Connecticut to take on Hartford at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
Saturday the Dogs play host to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County at 1 p.m. at Solomon court.
