What happened?

Early on it looked as though Northeastern would show the same form as Saturday’s win at St. John’s. Kauri Black stuffed home a dunk, Jonathan Lee scooped in a layup and then connected on a mid-range jump shot for a quick 6-0 Huskies lead. The offensive rebounding that has been so important this season again made an impact, as the visitors snagged five offensive boards in the game’s opening six minutes, including a sequence with three offensive rebounds that eventually led to two free throws for Reggie Spencer. With a 12-5 lead about halfway through the opening half, it appeared as though NU was in control.

But a lack of control was exactly what would stifle Northeastern all evening. The Huskies turned the ball over eight times in the final 11 minutes of the half, helping the Explorers gain momentum. With sloppy passes and a lack of focus, the offensive execution of the Huskies was severely lacking, leading to seven consecutive missed field goals. A demoralizing blow came in the final seconds of the half. With Northeastern trailing by three, head coach Bill Coen diagramed a play for the final shot of the half. Awayne Bigby’s pass was stolen on the ensuing possession, leading to an and-one layup at the other end with 1.7 seconds remaining. NU trailed 24-18 at the break, the team’s lowest scoring half since it mustered only 16 points on Jan. 5, 2011 at Old Dominion.

The second half looked promising, as Northeastern appeared sharper and better focused. Kashief Edwards hit a pair of jumpers and Bigby and Lee converted at the free throw line to help NU knot the score at 26-26 in the opening minutes of the second stanza. But more turnovers ravaged the visitors’ early efforts, and this time La Salle made NU pay the price. A 3-point play and back-to-back-to-back three pointers allowed the Explorers to run off 12 straight points in a matter of less than two minutes. Slow rotations on defense plagued the Huskies, who watched La Salle bury 7 of 8 long distance tries in the second half. NU fell behind by 19 points at the midway point of the half and never got closer than 13 the remainder of the contest, eventually falling 68-51, the most lopsided defeat of the young season.

Player of the Game:

Explorers guard Earl Pettis, who was questionable entering the contest with an injured finger on his shooting hand, showed no ill effects from his ailment, netting a game-high 15 points. Coming off the bench, Pettis connected on 5 of his 9 shots and buried 3 of 5 three pointers, all coming during La Salle’s second half run that put the game away. The guard also grabbed seven rebounds and nabbed four steals.

It’s nearly impossible to pick a player from Northeastern who played particularly well, but the best of the worst was big man Reggie Spencer. The freshman finished with 10 points on 3 of 5 shooting and led all players with 8 rebounds. Spencer, like his teammates, was not immune to turnovers as he committed three himself.

The Takeaway:

It’s tough to win games when you keep giving the other team the ball, and that’s what Northeastern learned the hard way. One game after turning the ball over only 10 times, NU gave it away 22 times on Wednesday night in a sloppy display. What’s frustrating is most of the turnovers were self-inflicted, not coming off high pressure defense from La Salle. Fortunately this is easily correctable through fundamentals of decision-making and execution in practice, but is a necessary and immediate change.

A bigger concern going forward is the defense, specifically the zone. NU employed a 2-3 zone against St. John’s on Saturday and the strategy paid off, with the Red Storm making only 2 of 16 three pointers in a big Huskies win. The Explorers fared much better, hitting 9 of 20 long distance shots, including 7 of 8 in the second half.

The key to stopping a team while playing a 2-3 zone comes down to the guards. Lee and Joel Smith, or whomever is playing up top, needs to be quick enough to move out on shooters on the wings while also staying close together to cut off penetration into the lane. If the guards are out of position, this forces the post players to rotate over to help out, leaving other areas of the court unoccupied and vulnerable to open shots. Lee and Smith looked sluggish on defense, and that had an adverse effect on the entire defensive effort.

The other downside to zone is that it can be beaten by hot shooting. The perfect shot will beat the perfect defense every time. When the Explorers got hot from downtown in the second half, it was surprising to see Coen not switch to a man-to-man look in order to keep a closer defender to shooters. Coen is still primarily a man-to-man coach, but this season he has used zone defense a lot more than in the past. Wednesday night it backfired.

If there is one positive from the defeat, it is that once again Northeastern out-rebounded its opponent, especially on the offensive glass. The Huskies earned a 40 to 29 edge on the boards, including a 13 to 3 offensive advantage. This marks the fourth time in five games NU has won the rebounding battle, a positive trend that can only help a team win games.

Quotes of Note:

“One of the things that I felt like, and I told our team in the locker room, that once you beat a St. John’s, you’re not [going to] sneak up on your next opponent, they’re [going to] come ready. I thought La Salle, to their credit, really came ready and weren’t gonna let Joel get any open looks, particularly early on.”

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Patrick McHugh Basketball, Press Pass La Salle