BOSTON – Ever since Northeastern left the America East Conference for the Colonial Athletic Association in 2005, the cross-town rivalry between the Huskies and Boston University hasn’t been the same. The teams have only played once per season, save for the 2005-06 season when they did not play at all, and the games have been in November instead of January and February and with the occasional March game mixed in during the conference tournament.
In light of that, the life that the crowd showed in Tuesday night’s game between the arch-rivals was a pleasant sight. Two days before Thanksgiving, with a lot of students undoubtedly already home for the long weekend. The attendance was listed at 2,500, which is probably a little high but doesn’t understate the feel of the game, both from the crowd and the players.
For the first time in a few years, the game really felt like a rivalry game. With both teams thought to be contenders in their respective conferences, it was a good matchup in addition to the rivalry aspect. You could see players go back and forth as they guarded each other, with plenty of contact both ways; one time it was Matt Janning and Corey Lowe, who also at times tried matching each other with jump shots, another time it was Matt Wolff and Eugene Spates.
Indeed, in the first half Janning and Lowe at times looked like they had a game of “Can you top this?” going as each carried their team for stretches. Lowe had the edge in individual numbers with 23 at the half, but the Huskies had the edge that mattered at 40-39.
Although there is the requisite desire to beat the rival, there’s plenty of respect to go around between the programs. When he was the head coach at Northeastern, Ron Everhart noted that his staff paid attention to some of what BU did to be successful. The Terriers were quick to state their respect for the Huskies, picked by most to be a contender for the CAA title. They’re also aware that the Huskies entered this game having won four straight games in the rivalry after the Terriers had been in control for a while.
“The past couple of times we’ve played them, they out-worked us,” said Lowe, who finished with 27 points. “He showed us some stuff from past teams and how much it means to BU and Northeastern, the rivalry, so we just kind of wanted to put our piece in.”
The rivalry has always had interesting storylines. For a few years recently, an interesting note was that both head coaches, Everhart and BU’s Dennis Wolff, both lived in Walpole, about 20 miles south of Boston. This time around, one need only look at the two Terriers who especially torched the Huskies for the storyline.
Lowe and Jake O’Brien, who had 21 points on 7-9 shooting, including 5-7 from long range and a couple of daggers in the second half, were both recruited by Northeastern during their prep careers. In fact, after Lowe was released from his letter of intent at Providence, the Terriers and Huskies were among the schools he considered. Both players know about the rivalry from growing up in the area as well, and now they had a large hand in a big win for their team. That Northeastern recruited them may not have been an extra motivator at all, but it certainly is noteworthy.
Even though the rivalry takes on a different life now that the teams are not in the same conference, the meaning is still there. The players and coaches wanted this one, and when it was over, Janning said, “It’s a rival, so it’s going to sting until next year.” They might only meet once a year, but there’s still life to the rivalry and it showed on Tuesday night.
