By: Patrick McHugh, News Staff
Entering last night’s contest at Delaware, the men’s basketball team was trying not to let its seven-game losing streak become a mental block. Still win-less in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play, the Huskies were hoping to down UD for the 12th-consecutive time.
“Obviously it’s very disappointing, we thought it was a winning effort,” head coach Bill Coen said. “I thought the guys played really well, particularly on the defensive end … I thought ultimately the difference in the game was Jamelle Hagins being an eraser around the rim.”
Plagued by poor starts during their losing streak, the Huskies used a 12-0 run in the early in the first half to push NU to a six-point lead at halftime. The strong start translated into the second half, in which the visitors led by as many as 12.
Unfortunately Northeastern could not hold on to the lead as Delaware went on a 9-0 run to close the game. Hagins, who finished with seven points, threw down a dunk with 21 seconds remaining to break the 52-52 tie. Hagins then blocked a shot by NU freshman guard Alex Harris with 10 seconds remaining, and senior captain and guard Chaisson Allen’s shot was off the mark as the final buzzer sounded.
Sophomore guard Joel Smith scored 18 points to lead the Huskies, while Allen had 12 points and 10 rebounds and freshman forward Ryan Pierson chipped in with 10 points.
On Saturday the Huskies traveled to Richmond, Va., to face Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in hopes of continuing recent success against the Rams. NU had won the previous three matchups and was the only team to defeat VCU inside the Stuart C. Siegel Center since the start of the 2008-09 season, having done so twice in the previous two seasons. The visitors once again looked comfortable in the Siegel Center, shooting 55.3 percent from the floor, but fell short 73-64.
VCU head coach Shaka Smart commended the Huskies for keeping it close throughout.
“Northeastern kept making shots and wouldn’t go away,” Smart said. “That’s a very good Northeastern team, they’re going to win a lot of games in the league, they just happened to play a very tough CAA schedule so far.”
The back-court trio of Smith (17 points), Allen (16 points) and Harris (11 points) succeeded in taking the ball to the basket and stepping back for jump shots, combining for 69 percent of NU’s offense.
“When we play well, they play well,” Coen said of his guards. “Chase really is the barometer and I think other guys play off him because he demands extra attention off the ball screen. I thought he played at a great tempo today for himself and for others. He set the table for a lot of people. When you have a guy like that, he makes the game easier for a Joel Smith or Alex Harris.”
Trailing by eight points at half time, the Huskies cut the deficit as close as two points when Smith drilled a 3-pointer to make it 48-46 VCU with 10:56 remaining. While the offense found success the defense had no answers for the Rams’ forward combo of Bradford Burgess and Jamie Skeen, who finished with 26 points and 18 points respectively.
Coen said the difference in the game came down to his unseasoned big men.
“In the past we’ve had some experienced and physical front-court players, and I think inexperience in our frontcourt kind of showed today, physically and mentally, and that’s a challenge,” Coen said.
The Huskies’ three-game road swing concludes Saturday when the team visits Philadelphia for a 2 p.m. tip-off at Drexel. The Dragons defeated NU 63-58 on Dec. 4, 2010, a game which was played inside the TD Garden as part of the inaugural Boston Tip-Off Classic.
