By: Patrick McHugh, News Staff
As heavy snow fell on Boston and locals needed shovels to dig themselves clear of the inclement weather, the men’s basketball team was in the midst of trying to dig itself clear of an inclement stretch.
An 86-60 loss to visiting George Mason last night dropped the Huskies to 4-12 overall and 0-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The loss was Northeastern’s sixth consecutive defeat.
“We’re not in a good spot right now – we’re not playing very good basketball. We’re not playing team basketball,” head coach Bill Coen said. “We have to get back to doing that and playing fundamental basketball.”
The Patriots, who had not won at Matthews Arena since 2006, had little difficulty figuring out the Huskies’ defense and enjoyed its largest scoring output of the season. Junior Ryan Pearson led all scorers with 24 points while senior Cam Long added 20 points to lead the visitors in scoring.
Mason, which led by as many as 32 points in the second half, jumped out to an early lead and entered halftime comfortably ahead by 17 points.
“I just thought we got beat by a better basketball team tonight,” Coen said. “They came right out and jumped on us right from the get go.”
NU’s defense allowed the Patriots to shoot 67.3 percent from the floor, much higher than its season average of 47.7 percent.
Sophomore guards Joel Smith and Jon Lee led the Huskies with 16 points apiece, while freshman guard Alex Harris added 12 points.
On Saturday the Huskies made their return to Matthews Arena after a 31-day stretch away from St. Botolph Street. It was the first home game for the club since a 79-67 loss to Rhode Island Dec. 8. The friendly confines failed to boost the team to victory, however, as Hofstra braved harsh winter weather and emerged with a 76-67 victory.
The Pride left Hempstead, N.Y., Friday afternoon, but because of traffic jams caused by snow in the Northeast the visitors did not get into Boston until 1 a.m. Saturday morning. Head coach Mo Cassara said the ride lasted 11 hours. The lengthy jaunt didn’t appear to bother senior guard Charles Jenkins, who led his team with 20 points and seven assists in the win.
“I told the team in the locker room we have every excuse not to win this game,” Jenkins said. “We could say we had an 11-hour bus trip and it took us a while to get in and our legs are bad, but the reality is we still have to play basketball.”
Jenkins, who entered the contest fourth in the nation in scoring at 24.1 points-per-game, gave Coen’s defense fits throughout the game with his scoring prowess.
“You need a special combination of talents to be able to even begin to contest Charles Jenkins,” Coen said. “He is so explosive off the dribble and he has developed his 3-point game to where it is extremely good that you have to respect that too.”
Jenkins, the reigning CAA Player of the Year, remained quiet in the early going, setting his teammates up for open shots en route to an 11-4 Pride lead. The Huskies trailed by six at halftime and twice came within four points of the lead in the second half but ultimately fell short, dropping to 0-4 in league play. All five starters for the Pride scored in double-figures, a mark Coen said he was not pleased to see.
“For us it’s no secret: We have to become a better defensive team,” Coen said. “You’re not going to beat too many teams if they shoot 53 percent against you. It puts so much pressure on our offense when we’re playing that porous on the defensive end. I think our biggest growth area is going to be on the defensive end.”
After missing two games with a sore hamstring, senior captain and guard Chaisson Allen returned to action and led all scorers with 22 points.
“I started off a little rusty just getting back into the flow of the game,” he said. “We put in some new sets so I was trying to adjust to that, but it’s basketball. I’ve been playing it all my life so it wasn’t too difficult.”
The Huskies travel to Richmond, Va., Saturday to take on Virginia Commonwealth University. Tip-off inside the Siegel Center is scheduled for noon.
