The atmosphere was different. I couldn’t decide whether I liked it or not, but looking back I think it was probably one of the most exciting games I’ve witnessed the men’s basketball team play.
And I was there when they beat Boston College in 2002-03 and I can still see, in painful detail, Jose Juan Barea’s last-second three-pointer clank off the rim in front of a packed Solomon Court Feb. 8, 2004, when the Huskies lost 67-65 to Vermont.
Still, last year’s game against BU sticks out as one of the best I’ve seen.
Maybe it was because the Terriers had owned NU prior to that game, winning the previous four meetings. Or maybe it was because I go to Northeastern and I have an obligation to hate BU. Or maybe it was because there were more fans there than I can remember ever being at an NU home game – 3,150, to be exact.
Regardless, the Huskies edged BU 77-75 last season in the most recent game at Matthews Arena.
Today, the Huskies return to Matthews, as they usher in a new era of NU basketball when they host their first Colonial Athletic Association home game against Towson (3-2, 1-0) at 7:30 p.m.
Per CAA regulations, the Huskies will have to play all of their home conference games at Matthews Arena, stirring the ghosts of Northeastern past and injecting renewed life in one of the most historic artifacts in Boston sports history.
If the rafters of Matthews Arena could talk, they’d spin a tale of titles won and legends lost. They’d proudly boast of dynasties spawned under their watch and the historical magnitude they maintain to this day.
From Bob Cousy to the late, great Reggie Lewis, the Matthews Arena hardwood has been the stomping ground for some of basketball’s all-time greats.
Matthews, formerly known as Boston Arena, was home of the NU basketball programs from 1981-82 through 1996-97, the early part of which was the heart of the Jim Calhoun era, the most successful period in NU basketball history (so far). However, the basketball legend of Matthews was born decades earlier with one furious slam dunk.
On Nov. 5, 1946, Chuck Connors delayed the start of the Boston Celtics’ first ever game when he smashed the backboard during pregame warm-ups. The game eventually got underway and the Celtics would call the arena, as well as the Boston Garden, their home for the next 13 years.
Matthews, already known as the oldest functioning ice hockey rink in the world, is also quite resilient. Two fires, in 1918 and 1948, couldn’t bring the relic down, allowing it to be the new (well, sort of new) home of the Husky basketball program.
Northeastern’s recent success at Matthews hasn’t been all that successful, as they own a 2-3 record when coached there by Ron Everhart. Although that’s statistically insignificant, as those five games represent exactly four percent of the games he’s coached at Northeastern.
While the smaller Solomon Court was more like a high school-sized gym, it had a nice feel to it. In a sense, it was a perfect fit for a rebuilding program, and I’ll be the first to admit I’ll miss the familiarity of the place.
The crowds were never large in number; however, with the smaller space, the volume was usually great, creating a surprisingly hostile home court advantage for the Huskies on a regular basis.
Alas, the rebuilding program has outgrown the cozy confines of Solomon Court, and the Huskies will return to the historic Arena that forged two of the most historic franchises in sports history. (The Bruins also played their first game at Matthews.)
However, there is a bit of reluctance on my part to fully embrace the move with nothing but positive feelings.
While the men’s basketball team did see marked improvement in attendance last year, a tribute to the entire Athletic Department as well as the team, Matthews Arena has a very large surplus of seats. The team does its part by running an up tempo, exciting style of basketball, but it’s up to Northeastern students to pay them their due and pack Matthews arena, starting today at 7:30 p.m.
– Max Lederman can be reached at [email protected].
