MBB at Northeastern 1/21

[Flying Dutchmen]

Game is on SNY at 8pm, CAA game of the night.

I think this is a season-defining game, and definitely the most important game to this point.

We know this team all too well, Walker, Ford, and Stahl are all gritty seniors, and the defending champs. I think Northeastern is the best team in the CAA until otherwise noted. Northeastern has nine players who will be in the game for significant minutes, their shooting is a little down from last year, but they have actually scored significantly more points from the perimeter this year compared to when they had Eatherton last season. Taking a quick look at their box scores though, it looks like their two point shooting has been up the past few games. Overall a very solid team, with two impact freshman, one whom I have not seen play yet in PG Donnell Gresham.

We've had five days to digest the heartbreaker against JMU, this is usually the time when senior leadership starts to show, so I expect a BIG game from Nichols, who seems to be the emotional sparkplug of this team.

To be honest, our defense has looked better, more aggressive, in CAA play, but we're still getting lit up from the field against any team that has a shooting pulse. The fact they haven't gone inside to their forwards nearly as much this year is huge for us, as I thought their forward play in the post was the significant advantage they held over us last year.

We've played poorly at Matthews in years past, but I'll never forget that game in '10 when we closed out an extremely close game, which cost Northeastern the regular season title. It was truly one of the finest performances from a Pecora team, and a prime example of why #22 is hanging in the rafters at the Mack. We need a game like that tomorrow night!!!!

[HUSID80]

Agree that this is a watershed game for our team this year...it will go a long way toward determining where we are going for the rest of the season. In fact this and W & M on Sat are absolutely critical. Get two wins and we separate ourselves...go 1-1 and we are about where we are now...lose two and we're in trouble.

Where I disagree with you is with Nichols...he has be a zero lately in CAA play...not expecting much...I want to see our shooters make some threes and Rokus continue to play well...if we do that we should be ok.

[EvanJ]

http://gohofstra.com/news/2016/1/17/MBB ... ath=mbball is Hofstra's preview.
http://gohofstra.com/documents/2016/1/1 ... game19.pdf is Hofstra's Game Notes.
http://gonu.com/news/2016/1/20/MBB_0120 ... ath=mbball is Northeastern's preview. Hofstra says they have beaten Northeastern 17 times, but Northeastern says Hofstra has beaten Northeastern 18 times.
Newsday says Northeastern is favored by 3.5.
Here is what the Sagarin and its components say:

Overall: Northeastern by 3.27
Predictor: Northeastern by 3.58
Golden_Mean: Northeastern by 2.62
Recent: Northeastern by 1.34

[HUSID80]

ESPN Pick Center has NE by 2.5 down from 3.5 yesterday

[joeg1]

If we come out flat for this one, you can blame the Niagara trio: Coach, and Srs JG and AT. Show us something: Rise to the occasion!

[ProudofPride]

Northeastern has won 8 straight against Hofstra, and JAM is 0-5 against the Huskies. The ice rink is always a tough place to play, but other teams have gone there and won this year. Northeastern might actually be even more inconsistent than we are. They have a few mind-boggling losses to go along with their win over Miami, and they struggled against lesser teams, like Florida Atlantic. NU beat FAU by 2, we beat them by 14. Time for our team to prove why the coaches picked them to win the CAA.

[Wags]

Huge opportunity for the Dutch tonight. And a big difference at the moment between being 5-2 (largely winning within the CAA) and falling to 4-3 (barely above mediocre).

JMU won there last week, then beat HU on its own floor for HU's first home loss of the season. So if HU is serious about living up to the preseason favorite pick, this is one that you go out and get to send a message to the defending champs and to the rest of the league that they are to be reckoned with in terms of being the new team to beat in the CAA. Otherwise, a loss here looks (for now; things can change later even with a loss) like yet another in the long line of CAA preseason favorite picks (HU and otherwise) not living up to expectations.

Also wonder about Saturday's game and how the forecasted snow may or may not impact W&M's visit to Hempstead, and how much rest they might get and how fresh the Tribe might be for that game.

[Jojogunne]

We never play well at Northeastern.

[Wags]

We never play well at Northeastern.

That was the loss that ultimately cost HU a share of the league title, and probably the at-large bid with it, the year Mason went to the Final Four.

[Jojogunne]

We never play well at Northeastern.

That was the loss that ultimately cost HU a share of the league title, and probably the at-large bid with it, the year Mason went to the Final Four.

I think the problem is the ice rink under the hardwood floor.

[HUSID80]

We're 1-0 with ice rinks under the floor after having defeated App St at the Garden

[EvanJ]

That was the loss that ultimately cost HU a share of the league title, and probably the at-large bid with it, the year Mason went to the Final Four.

We had four CAA losses that season before the CAA Tournament, and two of them were to teams that finished behind Northeastern in the CAA standings. We lost to UNC Wilmington (1 seed), Northeastern (5 seed), Virginia Commonwealth (6 seed), and Towson (7 seed).

[Wags]

HU's old foe, former longtime ODU head coach Blaine Taylor, doing the color on SNY.

Great comment from him on a Huskies basket that I've never heard before from anyone: "Got him with the eyebrow fake." lol

He also had a good stat: Juan'ya has made more FTs than nearly any other CAA player has attempted this season.

HU started 6/9 from 3, but a good balance tonight between that and attacking in the paint, to go up 32-22. Gustys continues to do damage down there. Buie getting some decent minutes. Doing a great job on the boards, including the offensive glass. HU through most of the first half treating this big game with the level of focus and energy it deserves. Clearly the better team so far.

The anti-Juan'ya so far tonight, going 0-3 from 2 and 3-3 from 3.

[Wags]

That was the loss that ultimately cost HU a share of the league title, and probably the at-large bid with it, the year Mason went to the Final Four.

We had four CAA losses that season before the CAA Tournament, and two of them were to teams that finished behind Northeastern in the CAA standings. We lost to UNC Wilmington (1 seed), Northeastern (5 seed), Virginia Commonwealth (6 seed), and Towson (7 seed).

The VCU loss, despite their seed, was somewhat expected. But the NU one was one they were expected to win. The Towson loss was another one of those though; just as bad if not worse than the NU loss. I think HU scored a bunch of points in that Towson loss, but played absolutely no D, as I remember, and I think HU lost a real high scoring game. Finished one loss behind the co-champs, and despite some politics at work, the committee claimed that Mason's co-title is what got them in over HU.

[RollPride15]

If we want to win the CAAs it's a tremendous help to have Rokas contributing like he is...Let's close this one out strong and head home with a W

[Wags]

Good half. Up 42-32.

Green 11 pts, Gustys 10.

Shot 8-14 from 3 and crushed NU on the boards at both ends... 9-3 edge on on the offensive glass, 15-7 on the defensive glass. Gustys has 4 of each, already just 2 boards from yet another double-double.

Good shot distribution: all 7 who have played ranged between 3 and 6 shots, with 1-4 makes. Everyone involved, not too much of a burden on any 1 or 2 guys.

By the way, Gustys is a Rhetorical Studies major. What the heck IS that??? DO professors only ask rhetorical questions, not expecting answers, in class?

Up 10 at half in a big game like this, it's now one they HAVE to get, even though NU figures to make a run or two to get back in it.

[Wags]

If we want to win the CAAs it's a tremendous help to have Rokas contributing like he is...Let's close this one out strong and head home with a W

He's no longer just a contributor. He is now a main piece leading this team along with Green. That's why Tanskley is so key - if he gets his game back, and you have that a dynamic trio, at forward, PG and a big in the paint, HU then the rest are all role players, with Koon's versatility, Bernardi asked to simply be the 3-pt specialist and just holding his own defensively, and Nichols and Buie as the last two role players. Then you have a nice makeup, even with a short 7-man rotation.

[ProudofPride]

Since Marvin King-Davis finally didn't have a double-double today in UD's game against UNCW, if Rokas gets 2 more rebounds to secure a double-double, he will be tied for the most in the CAA.
Side note, the final score of the CofC-Towson game was 40-37. Supposedly that's the lowest combined score of any game so far this year.

[Wags]

Love the approach in the second half.

Green did take a quick, short 3 on the second trip (you worry he and they would fall in love with that after the first half), but on the first trip, Green attacked the rim right away and made 2 FTs (you'd expect that trailing by 10 at halftime, especially at home, but to do that up 10 on the road is good to see). Same trip, Tanskley gets inside for 2 and the foul and Bernardi attacked the hoop aggressively even though it didn't work out.

And now Gustys to the line again. He is trying to bank his FTs in now. Has made two like that tonight. Hey, when you're at 40%, why not?

47-35 now, boards are now 30-12!

[Wags]

Since Marvin King-Davis finally didn't have a double-double today in UD's game against UNCW, if Rokas gets 2 more rebounds to secure a double-double, he will be tied for the most in the CAA.
Side note, the final score of the CofC-Towson game was 40-37. Supposedly that's the lowest combined score of any game so far this year.

Wow! And HU won 92-58 there. Towson shot 27%, made just 11 shots and nearly won. Crazy. Equally crazy, Charleston made 4 FTs and won a road conference game. Game was 36-35 with 44 ticks left. I think Mason won a CAA title game over UNCW 35-33 once. Next game, I believe they were a 14 seed, playing 3rd-seeded Maryland, and gave them all they could handle, but in the 80s... like 83-80 or something like that. Go figure, after the UNCW game.