Huskies Hit the Road With Confidence
BOSTON – Northeastern continued to protect its home court this past weekend, picking up wins over William & Mary (84-69) on Thursday and VCU (79-74) on Saturday at Matthews Arena. The Huskies are now 7-1 at home in CAA play and 9-4 overall, which ties them for third place.
But more important than the standings is how the Huskies won their games – playing complete games and giving star senior Jose Juan Barea plenty of support. On Thursday, four players besides Barea scored in double figures, while Shawn James (26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocked shots for his third career triple-double) was the unquestioned star on Saturday.
With another weekend road swing ahead at Drexel and Hofstra, the Huskies have picked it up to reach a good point at a crucial time.
“I’m hoping that it will give us a great deal of confidence,” said head coach Ron Everhart, who added that he likes how the team has practiced of late. “It’s the second time all year that we’ve just gone out and beaten a team that’s ahead of us in the standings by a game or two. We’ve talked with our guys about climbing the ladder, and not staying where we are, and I thought we took a significant step upward on the CAA ladder today.”
The Huskies enter the week having won six of eight, and their final stretch involves four of six on the road. Winning on the road hasn’t come easily in CAA play, but now that the Huskies have cleared some first-year hurdles, they’re in a better position now. It also helps that three of the final four road games will come against teams with sub-.500 conference records entering this week, starting with a Drexel team that has faded to a 6-7 conference mark and ending with Towson, which has played better since Gary Neal became eligible and just knocked off the Dragons on Saturday.
The defense has improved in the last five games, where they have won four. In those games, opponents are shooting just 37 percent from the field. They’ve won without forcing turnovers, as they’ve forced just 49 in those five games, and James has blocked 40 shots to add to his nation-leading total. He’s also reached double figures in rebounds in each of the last four games.
Add that to how the offense looked in the last two games, and you have a team that looks dangerous. Thursday night’s box score was a sight to behold: 54.8 percent shooting, 25 assists with 14 turnovers, and five players in double figures. Barea had 17, but was 7-13 from the field and had nine assists with three turnovers. James (13 points, 11 rebounds, 8 blocks) was one recipient of those passes, while Adrian Martinez (13 points) had two clutch three-pointers late in the first half that helped them open up a 39-28 halftime lead. Aaron Davis (11 points) and Bennet Davis (11 points, 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season) also reached double figures, and Bobby Kelly almost got there with eight.
For good measure, Martinez has become a key reserve of late. He’s been Barea’s backup all season at the point, and while not a true point guard, he has played much better of late and has held down the fort very well. He remains a dangerous shooter, as he’s shooting nearly 40 percent on three-pointers, but his biggest asset has been improving play as the closest thing the Huskies have to a backup point guard. That can’t be underestimated, because all too often, the offense suffers when Barea sits down because the other guards haven’t proven capable of initiating the offense very much.
It all adds up to Barea’s job becoming much easier, and one can sense his confidence in his teammates rising with each game.
“If everybody comes to play like they did today, I think we’re the best team in the league,” Barea said after Saturday’s win. “We’ve been trying to work on that all year – getting everybody to play well at the same time.”
Adds Everhart, on Barea and the balanced attack: “This year, with some of the other guys stepping up, he hasn’t had to score as much lately. He’s really defended better and he’s really distributed the basketball and become a floor general.”
James was the star on Saturday, and his recent emergence is something the team has needed all year. He’s now operating mainly out of the high post on offense, and that has worked wonders because he has knocked down shots from mid-range and long range, and also passed to cutters near the basket.
That’s also another thing that takes the pressure off Barea offensively as well, and it showed late in the game on Saturday when he made big plays down the stretch.
“He’s a big money player,” Everhart said. “When the game is on the line, and it’s a big play, or there’s something big to happen out there, he just always comes up huge. He just makes plays at the right time.”
He certainly did that in the final five minutes against VCU. A layup, then a steal and two free throws after being fouled started it off. He added two more free throws, then two assists on layups to keep the lead in the high single digits, the second one coming after he grabbed a defensive rebound. He made three of four free throws in the final minute to help seal the game.
For good measure, Barea made all his contributions the past two games while not being 100 percent. Everhart said that he’s been a little under the weather of late, and on Saturday he was a little dehydrated at times. It clearly was more annoying than anything else, as he played through it well.
With the struggles that a number of teams have had this year in a new conference, the Huskies’ play to stay in contention is noteworthy. Winning in a new conference isn’t just about having the talent and experience; there are plenty of subtleties involved, and the Huskies can look right across town at Boston College’s experience in their first year in the ACC for evidence of what it can be like. That’s why Everhart certainly has to be mentioned among candidates for coach of the year right now, and at the end of the season if the Huskies finish near the top of the conference.
This weekend, the Huskies go to a couple of places they used to go to on a regular basis in old America East rivals Drexel and Hofstra. The last two games look like signs of how good this team can be. They’re playing like a team primed to take both games, and that would just add to the momentum they appear to be gaining each time out.
