This past summer, Northeastern junior point guard Jose Juan Barea played for the Puerto Rican national junior team and led his nation in scoring. The 6-foot guard has picked up where he left off, only this time he’s leading this nation in scoring with an average of 29.7 points per game. (min. 3 games)
Barea has led the Huskies in scoring in all three of the their contests, including the second highest total of his career with 35 points in the 88-85 win over Cornell University (Barea scored 38 points against the University of Maine in the 2003 America East Tournament).
After Saturday’s 85-75 loss to Harvard University, the Huskies find themselves with an overall record of 1-2. With the score tied, 71-71, and 3:29 remaining in the game, the Crimson shut down the Huskies and went on a 14-4 run to end the game.
Harvard outrebounded Northeastern, 42-31, and shot a perfect 100 percent from the charity stripe, while NU could only hit 60 percent of their free throws. The Crimson dominated the paint, scoring more than double what the Huskies could muster down low, with a 44-20 edge.
Despite Barea dropping 30 points for the second straight game, the story of Saturday’s game at Harvard was freshman forward Shawn James who set a new single game record with seven blocks in his first game as a Husky.
The 6-foot-9 frosh pulled down eight boards and dropped in 18 points in the losing effort. In 28 minutes of playing time, the Brooklyn, N.Y. native shot 7-for-10 from the field and hit one of his two three-point attempts.
Sophomore forward Bennet Davis pitched in 11 points while junior guard Aaron Davis added nine in a team-high 37 minutes of action. Davis took a medical red shirt last year after season-ending shoulder surgery and despite showing some signs of rust (4-for-17 from downtown), appears to be back to near 100 percent for the first time in over two years.
It has long been known that Barea would be the key to the Huskies success this year and Saturday, Nov. 20, he showed why, hitting a game-winning three pointer with nine-tenths of a second left in the game to give Northeastern the 88-85 win over Cornell at the Pepsi-Marist classic.
Barea simply willed his team to victory by scoring their last 14 points, as well as 19 of their last 21. With 2:26 remaining in the game, Barea hit four straight trifectors, including the game winner. For the game he shot 6-for-12 from behind the arc and 11-of-23 overall. Marcus Barnes added 23 points while shooting 6-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-9 from downtown.
The Huskies head to Amherst to take on the University of MassachusettsWednesday night before heading back to Boston for their home opener against Wright State University on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Monday night the Huskies travel to Storrs, Conn. where they play the defending national champion University of Connecticut Huskies at 7:30 p.m.
