By Jake Sauberman, deputy sports editor
Down three to Elon University, the Northeastern University (NU) men’s basketball team was watching every one of their shots clank off the rim. Following a first half where only two of 12 three-point attempts found the bottom of the net, the Huskies were doing all they could to struggle through the inconsistency.
Coming off a defensive stop, senior guard T.J. Williams brought up the ball, looking to finally crack into the paint. Charging past two defenders, he reached his destination, but waiting for him were two hulking Elon forwards, eager for the opportunity to swat a potential layup. Already mid-shot with nowhere to shoot, Williams twisted his body, and out of the corner of his eye, spotted senior forward Alex Murphy all alone behind the three-point line. Desperate for any opportunity to keep the possession alive, Williams dished it out.
Murphy was struggling, coming off an 0-5 first half that included four missed threes. But this was a new half, and evidently a new Murphy. Just as he did with his previous four attempts, Murphy let one fly, but this time it mocked that troublesome rim as it fell into the net. Tie game, 36 all.
That was the story of this week for Northeastern: Not much was falling, but the team ground through to split the home set against Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) rivals Elon University and Towson University.
The Huskies would drop that game to Elon, 51-49, taking the hard-fought match down to the last possession. Williams was unable to get a highly contested layup to fall at the buzzer, ending a 5-15 shooting night from the usually prolific guard.
“I thought tonight really was a winning effort,” head coach Bill Coen said after the game. “There was nothing free for either team; we just came up one stop short.”
The spotlight was certainly on the defense, as both teams shot under 39 percent from the field and under 22 percent from three. Compared with the Huskies’ usual 47 percent and 38 percent season averages, respectively, it was a big shift for a team that relies on its efficiency.
“Each game plays out differently,” Coen said. “Guys have a sense of who’s doing what, and the tendencies of certain teams and players. There are no secrets out there, you have to earn it.”
Elon did their research on Williams and Murphy, as the duo was held to 23 combined points on 9-29 shooting. With the main threats struggling, Coen continued to believe in giving the ball to his star seniors.
“Your better players are going to be the guys who can create their own shots, and that’s going to fall on TJ [Williams] and Alex [Murphy],” Coen said.
The senior pair followed through on their responsibilities two days later, when the Huskies were back at Matthews Arena on Saturday to take on Towson University. Northeastern fell to Towson on Jan. 14, breaking their eight-game winning streak. This time, however, they were able to come out on top, 69-62, thanks to bounce-back performances from Williams and Murphy.
However, it took until the second half for the team to find its offensive groove. Going into the locker room at halftime, NU found itself down three, with Murphy 2-7 from the field and Williams 3-8 from the free-throw line.
The second half brought out a whole new Northeastern team, one that resembled the team that was on an eight-game winning streak just two weeks ago. They nearly doubled their offensive output from the first half, tallying 45 points on the backs of the seniors.
Williams hit 10 of his next 12 free-throw attempts en route to a team-high 23 points, and Murphy would splash four of his next six field goal attempts to reach 16 points of his own. After a cold game and a half, it was certainly encouraging to see Murphy begin to find the bottom of the basket again.
“I missed the first couple [of shots], but you know the law of averages,” Murphy said with a smile. “Just keep shooting the ball, it’s going to go in. You got to stay confident; you can’t control it. That’s the game of basketball.”
Murphy was instrumental in the biggest Husky run of the game, which took place midway through the second half. With 8:44 remaining on the clock, the forward began his hot shooting with a three pointer, giving NU the 42-40 lead. Murphy would hit another three on the following possession, before freshman guard Bolden Brace splashed one of his own. It was a small run, but one that would prove decisive in an otherwise back-and-forth game.
The spike in scoring wasn’t the only factor that led the Huskies to victory; they also made an adjustment against Towson’s senior forward William Adala Moto.
Adala Moto was a force to be reckoned with in the Tigers’ previous win over NU. He dropped 24 points and proved untamed on the boards, fighting his way to five offensive rebounds. On Saturday, however, the 6-foot-7-inch forward could only muster nine points and one offensive rebound.
“Our zone was much better today. We limited his [Adala Moto’s] touches where he usually gets the ball,” Coen said. “If he gets the ball in the middle of the zone, he comes downhill on you. […] We just tried to limit his touches as best we could.”
The key to limiting those touches in the paint was Huskies’ forward Anthony Green.
Always doing the physical work under the hoop, Green rarely gets the spotlight. Nobody goes crazy when his presence alters a shot or causes a guard to pull up for a low percentage jumper rather than drive. But Green’s defensive effort wasn’t lost on his teammates or his coach.
“I expect a lot out of him. I know how good he can be,” Murphy said of Green. “He played great tonight, rebounding the ball in the middle of that zone, blocking some shots at the end. He was big for us.”
Coen gave his approval of Green by playing him 24 minutes, well above his season average of 14.3 per game.
“We just needed his big body against their big bodies,” Coen said. “I thought Anthony [Green] did a great job patrolling the paint for us tonight.”
Finally cracking their four-game losing streak, Northeastern will look to start another winning streak when they hit the road to take on the College of William & Mary on Thursday before staying in Virginia to face James Madison University on Saturday.
We’ve seen what can happen when the Huskies get hot, so stay tuned as Northeastern continues its preparation for the CAA tournament.
Photo by Lauren Scornavacca
