When Vermont’s leading scorer and reigning America East Player of the Year Taylor Coppenrath suffered a season-ending wrist injury last week, it was clear that the road to the America East championship would come through Boston, rather than Vermont.
The problem for the Northeastern men’s basketball team is that the road isn’t Huntington Avenue; it’s Commonwealth Avenue, where the first-place Boston University Terriers handed the Huskies another hard-to-swallow loss last Sunday, 82-68.
So now, after beating Binghamton last Wednesday, 69-57, the stage is set for the biggest game of the year this Thursday when Maine (17-8, 11-5 AE) comes to town to play the Huskies (17-10, 11-5 AE) for sole possession of third place in the conference.
The first half of Sunday’s game against BU started out with an 11-2 Husky run and ended with the Huskies holding a 10-point lead.
Unfortunately for the Dogs, BU (21-4, 15-1 AE) showed why they are in first place by outscoring the Huskies 54-30 in the second half for their second win against Northeastern this year.
“BU’s experience was a big difference,” said Husky Coach Ron Everhart. “They pressed us in the second half and forced us to commit turnovers.”
Turnovers were a huge factor in the game as the Huskies gave the ball away 24 times compared to BU’s 12.
Northeastern was once again led by Jose Juan Barea who scored 16 points, dished seven assists and stole the ball three times, but fouled out in the last minutes of the game.
“Anytime you commit a lot of turnovers, your guys are going to get into foul trouble,” Everhart said.
Twenty-eight seconds into the second half, Bennet Davis gave the Huskies a 40-28 lead on a lay-up, but BU scored the next 13 points to go up one, 41-40. The Huskies fought back to take the lead again 49-48 at the 11:57 mark, but BU answered with an 11-0 run that put the game out of reach for NU.
“You have to give their guys a lot of credit,” Everhart said. “They know how to win games like this, and that’s why they’re the best team in the conference.”
Marcus Barnes scored 15 points in the losing effort, but was just 3-of-10 from the floor, with all his shots coming from behind the arc.
“They’ve got guys that can score, and we have guys that can score,” Barnes said. “It really comes down to who digs in and plays the best defense.”
Javorie Wilson pitched in with 14 points, while Sylbrin Robinson notched a double-double, with 10 points and 12 boards.
Northeastern avenged an 80-62 loss it suffered at home to Binghamton on Jan. 21 with a 69-57 win over the Bearcats Wednesday night. Despite being out-rebounded, the Huskies out-scored the Bearcats (13-14, 9-7 AE) 38-23 in the second half to come back from a 34-31 halftime deficit. Barea’s 24 points led the Huskies while Barnes pitched in 16 in the winning effort.
So with NU and Maine having the same conference record, the third seed in next week’s America East tournament will be on the line this Thursday night when the Huskies host the Black Bears at 7 p.m. in Solomon court. The contest, which is the last home game of the season, is senior night for NU, where the NU faithful will bid farewell to Sylbrin Robinson, Cornellius Wright, Jesse Dunn and Javorie Wilson.
NOTES: For the first time in his career, sophomore guard Jose Juan Barea was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I All-District 1 Second Team, the NABC announced last week. The Mayaguez, Puerto Rico native is averaging 20.5 points per game, second highest in America East and a conference-best 6.0 assists per game for the Huskies. He is second in the league in three-point shooting percentage (34.3) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.06). One of Barea’s arch nemeses, Boston University’s Chaz Carr, also earned a spot on the second team.
