Heading into the season, the Northeastern men’s basketball team knew that in order to win the America East crown they would have to best the two teams that have given them the most trouble over the last two years: the University of Vermont Catamounts and the Boston University Terriers.
The Huskies fell short against UVM on Jan. 5 when they lost 75-60 in front of a sellout crowd at Solomon Court. But after Saturday’s 77-66 win over the University of Maryland-Baltimore County the Huskies are 3-0 since and are rolling into this Wednesday’s huge match-up against bitter rival BU.
On Saturday the Huskies faced an energetic UMBC squad that plays better than its 1-5 conference record would indicate.
“I’m very impressed at how hard they play,” said NU coach Ron Everhart. “That team has a bright future.”
Northeastern was once again led by its dynamic backcourt duo of Marcus Barnes and Jose Juan Barea, who average a combined 40 points per game, roughly 55 percent of the Huskies offensive production.
Barnes led all scorers with 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting, while Barea and junior guard Aaron Davis each added 17 points in the winning effort.
Davis hit three huge trifectors and shot 6-for-9 from the floor, while Barea dished out seven assists and plucked three steals in the game.
Playing without Shawn James, the nation’s leading shot blocker, the Huskies seemed vulnerable on the inside, yielding 17 points and eight boards to Retriever forward John Zito and 20 points to UMBC center Andrew Feely.
“Zito is a heck of a player,” Everhart said. “We double teamed Feely to try and hold him down. They rotated well and got Zito involved.”
NU sophomore forward Bennet Davis fell one rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine boards, while Janon Cole helped stretch the Retriever defense with his 6-for-9 shooting and 12 points.
Next up for the Huskies is cross-town rival BU, who have won three straight against Northeastern dating back to the 2002-03 America East tournament when the Terriers eliminated Northeastern with a 71-61 win in the semi-finals.
“It’s always a big game when we play them,” Everhart said. “We wanted to run the table after losing to UVM and we’re very excited to go into this game 5-1.”
Northeastern and BU are currently tied for second place in the conference with 5-1 AE records and both trail UVM for the top spot in the conference.
For the past two seasons the Huskies have hung with Vermont and Boston in the standings, but have been unable to win the big game against either. The key matchup for NU in Wednesday’s game will be Barea against the Terriers’ senior point guard Chaz Carr.
The two have had some epic battles in the past and this will be the last time in the regular season the NU faithful will be able to see the two go at each other here on Huntington Avenue (the teams will play at brand new Agganis Arena on Feb. 20). The Huskies will move to Matthews Arena for Wednesday’s game. CN8 will air the game. Tip-off is at 8 p.m.
