Talk about being hot.
The Northeastern men’s basketball team entered Sunday’s game against Boston University on nothing short of a tear; outscoring their previous three opponents by an average of 27 points per game, including an 82-51 drubbing of the University of Maine Wednesday night at Solomon Court.
The romp continued with an emphatic 63-48 win over BU in a game televised throughout New England by NESN.
The 48 points surrendered to BU on Sunday marks the lowest opponent total all season.
Although it is the first time the Huskies have swept BU since the 1998-99 season, the feat itself isn’t as remarkable as how they won Sunday’s game.
With sole possession of second place in the America East and a first round bye in the conference tournament up for grabs, the game was a must-win for both teams. But despite playing in BU’s gorgeous new Agganis Arena, the first half was about as ugly as it can get with the two teams shooting a combined 29 percent from the floor.
But after a brutal first half that saw the Huskies score just 18 points despite attempting 17 three-pointers, a familiar occurrence took place. The Huskies took over the game. However, it wasn’t with a barrage of three-pointers or a few momentum swinging alley-oops like Husky fans are used to. No, the Huskies pulled a new trick out of their sleeves for this game by smothering the Terriers with hard-nosed defense.
“I was very happy with our defense down the stretch,” said NU coach Ron Everhart. “We applied a lot of pressure and I think we forced them to be a little bit uncomfortable.”
The Huskies finished the game with an amazing 30-7 run and held BU without a field goal for the final 8:12 of the game.
Despite shooting just 1-for-7 from downtown in the first half, senior Marcus Barnes kept firing in the second, going 3-for-5 from behind the arc and finishing the game with a game-high 20 points, 17 coming after intermission.
“I’m an older guy and I know if I can’t score, maybe it’ll be on the defensive end. I have to step up,” Barnes said. “I just try to do the little things I can do.”
Despite not having the sexiest stat line at the end of the game, finishing with just 10 points and six assists, junior pointman Jose Juan Barea illustrated his leadership skills and moxy by returning to the game after having his head landed on by a teammate after a missed layup.
“It’s just part of the game,” Barea said. “I went for a layup and fell hard. It’s just part of the game.”
Upon returning, Barea sparked the Husky defense with two steals and scored eight points and dished out four assists, the whole time playing with a footprint on his face.
“It’s fun, man. They play hard and we play hard,” Barea said. “They did a good job defensively on me. I give them a lot of credit.”
Freshman forward Shawn James, who was named the America East Rookie of the Week for the fifth time this season, notched his third career double-double, scoring 16 points and pulling down 10 boards while also blocking two shots.
Whereas the Husky’s defense is normally known for shot blocking, with James leading the conference with an average of 5.5 per game, the NU perimeter defense was what really made the difference, especially in the second half.
“We’ve played them enough to know that they didn’t shoot the ball very well,” Everhart said.
NU held the Terriers to an abysmal 1-for-17 showing from behind the arc and a 32.8 percent mark from the floor.
“Those kids worked hard defensively,” said BU coach Ron Wolffe. “They put good ball pressure on us and we had trouble handling the ball.”
With the win, the Huskies now move back into second place with BU, but hold the tie breaker with the two wins over the Terriers this season.
On Wednesday, Northeastern pounded the Black Bears for their second straight 30 point win. The win avenges an earlier 67-60 loss to the University of Maine on Jan. 23, and was Everhart’s 150th career win.
The Huskies got double-double performances from Barea and James. Barea fell two assists short of his career-high with 12 dimes to go with his game-high 17 points.
James was just one block shy of matching his school record when he sent back 10 Maine shots and dropped 10 points on the Bears.
Sophomore forward Bennet Davis pulled in 10 rebounds for NU, while sophomore guard Bobby Kelly tied his career-high with 13 points including a solid 3-for-3 from downtown.
The Huskies are now in full control of their own destiny. If the Dogs win their remaining two games, both at home, they cannot finish lower than second. The first and second place teams earn a first round bye in the America East tournament
“I reminded these guys that we didn’t do what we had to do after the last time we played [BU],” Everhart said referring to the Huskies’ 67-60 loss to Maine that took place the game after NU edged BU, 77-75, Jan. 19. “If it happens once then shame on them. If it happens twice then shame on us.”
The Huskies host their final two regular season games this week, when they play host to the University of New Hampshire (8-16, 4-11 AE) Thursday night at 7 p.m. and the University of Albany (13-12, 9-7 AE) Sunday at 1 p.m.
