What Happened?
Defense was going to set the tone early between the Georgia State Panthers and the Northeastern Huskies. GSU came into the game with a CAA-best 57.8 points per game allowed and allowed opponents to shoot just 37.5% from the floor. Defense for the Huskies has been great of late as well. Northeastern started out cold from the field, shooting hitting just one of its first ten shots, and fell down by 12 points to the Panthers early. The Huskies kept it close with the help of Joel Smith hitting two 3’s and getting fouled on a made layup. GSU had control throughout and took a seven-point lead into halftime.
Bill Coen took his team in at the break and sparked some energy in his squad as they came out on fire. In the first 6:30 of the second half, the Huskies went on a 15-4 run to take a four-point lead over the Panthers. This run was thanks to play of Jon Lee and Quincy Ford. Jon Lee, who went scoreless in the first half, ignited for three 3’s and a great assist to a running Ford for a thunderous fast break dunk. Northeastern’s largest lead of 8 came after a Kauri Black put-back dunk with under ten minutes to play. Coach Ron Hunter and the defense of Georgia State buckled down with Eric Bucker and Josh Micheaux shutting down the paint to eliminate easy baskets. The Panthers tied the game at 52-52 with 3:58 left. Reggie Spencer hit a couple free throws and Smith had an offensive put back to give the Huskies the lead with three minutes to go. The Huskies had the 56-53 lead but would only score 3 more the rest of the way. After a fast break layup for GSU and a foul away from the ball, the Panthers had a three-point possession with 1:09 to go.
Jon Lee closed the hole to a single point with 24 seconds to go before Buckner split a pair at the line. Northeastern had the ball with only eight ticks on the clock, but a Joel Smith turnover was quickly followed by a foul that sent Jihad Ali to the line. He missed both to give the Huskies one last opportunity to score, but Smith’s floater at the buzzer bounced out to sent Georgia State home with the 61-59 victory.
Player of the Game
Eric Buckner broke the single season record for blocks of 81 with 2 early blocks against the Huskies. Buckner, who is leading the conference with 3.4 blocks per game, finished the night with six swats. He also posted a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds and was a force on both ends of the floor. For the Huskies, Joel Smith lead the team with 16 points and 8 rebounds while going 3-9 from deep. Jon Lee ended with 14 points and 5 assists, hitting three 3’s of his own.
The Takeaway
Northeastern did not get discouraged by the early deficit and fought back to take the lead in the second half. Northeastern shot 39 percent (23-59) from the field and 33 percent (6-18) from beyond the arc; right around the average of the Panthers for FG% against. Georgia State shot 46 percent (23-59) but only 29 percent from deep (4-14). The Huskies shot a season-low nine free throws, hitting 7 of them. Georgia State went to the line 21 times but converted on just 11 attempts. The Huskies fall to 7-7 in CAA play and 11-13 overall. They remain 7th in the standings, 1 game behind Delaware. The Panthers improve to 17-8 and 9-5 in CAA play solidifying them into the 5th slot. They also improve their home record this season to 11-1.
After the loss, along with wins from each of the top four in the conference, the Huskies are mathematically eliminated from a top four seed in the CAA tournament. Though Old Dominion could lose each of their final four games and the Huskies could win all four, the Monarchs would earn a higher seed by virtue of a 2-0 record against Northeastern this season. Due to GSU victories over Drexel and VCU earlier in the year, the only way NU could earn a tiebreaker over the Panthers for the 5th seed is by beating George Mason (home, Feb. 22) while still seeing the Patriots earn the top seed.
-Coray Runge
WRBB Sports Basketball CAA, Georgia State
This week, we have an exhaustive rant about Northeastern’s embarrassing performance at the Beanpot on Monday, and assess the playoff and home ice picture in Hockey East. As always, the views expressed do not reflect those of WRBB or Northeastern University.
I have great news: remember that humiliating Beanpot loss on Monday night? Yeah, it didn’t count for any Hockey East points! Great — especially since the Huskies are done with Boston College (having gone 0-4 against the Eagles this year). So we move back to the all-important race for the Hockey East playoffs and the standings have tightened up since last week. Three points separate ninth place UMass from sixth place Providence, with Northeastern sitting squarely in the middle. For housekeeping purposes, we’re going to start including the magic number for clinching a playoff berth: the Huskies have 7 games remaining and the magic number is 5. That means it will take 5 wins to guarantee a spot in the playoffs, regardless of results from other teams.
We caught up with Bill Coen after a tough loss in Atlanta.
Northeastern coach Dave Flint talks about how much it means for the program to win a trophy and achieve one of its goals leading into the year.
In a tight, back-and-forth affair, the Huskies win in overtime on a Casey Pickett goal, giving Northeastern its first Beanpot championship since 1998.
