As Northeastern heads to Richmond for the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, it’s easy to think they’re in a good place. They enter as the No. 3 seed, which by itself is good because it means they have a bye. History says it’s much tougher to win four games in four days than three in three days, the latter of which will be their chore.
While they are in a good position from that standpoint, they don’t enter the conference tournament on the best of notes. It’s not just Saturday’s tough 57-54 overtime loss to Old Dominion; the Huskies finished February 3-5 this time around, a marked contrast to recent seasons as they went 9-6 in that month the prior two seasons under Bill Coen.
More troubling, though, is something the numbers don’t tell anyone. Watching this team over that time, they also look a little like a team that peaked right around the time they won three straight games against George Mason, Old Dominion and VCU, the latter two coming on the road. After those three games, they looked like the clear team to beat and stood all alone in first place.
The Huskies won the next game against Delaware at home, but then lost four of five starting with a 68-63 loss at William & Mary. During their three-game losing streak in the middle of the month, they didn’t look like the same team at all, especially at the defensive end. There were times the offense couldn’t get much going, which was a problem in their earlier three-game losing streak, but their defense, a major reason they ascended to the top in January, was an issue in February. And this is a team that is well-aware of how good defense can win games when the offense can’t get going.
“We played three great games there,” junior guard Matt Janning said of the big January stretch. “Ever since then, the intensity that we had during that stretch just hasn’t really been there. We have to get back to what we were doing then.”
Working in the Huskies’ favor is that they showed some signs of life late in February, winning two straight on the road at Wright State and Drexel. They also enter the conference tournament having knocked off every team in the CAA at least once.
The other factor to consider is that this team is very experienced in playing on the road. That has shown up several times this season, especially in wins at Providence, Indiana and VCU. The Huskies went 11-6 away from home, including 10-6 in true road games, while going 7-5 at home. The home record is another trend-bucking stat in this season, as the five losses equaled the number of home losses the past two seasons, when the Huskies posted a 16-5 mark, and since moving to the CAA, they have posted a 27-7 mark at home.
That factor, along with having defeated every team, is a reason the team will be optimistic when they get to Richmond.
“We’re excited to go down there,” Janning said. “We’ve got a chance to do something that hasn’t been done at this school in a long time.”
A long time is accurate. The Huskies haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1991. Prior to that, their longest NCAA Tournament drought was three years. This might be as good a chance as the program has had since then to finally get back.
