Louisiana Tech 56, NU 53: Bulldogs Bury Huskies With Late Second Half Run
What happened?
When Northeastern met Louisiana Tech on Tuesday night for a non-conference showdown, there may as well have been peach baskets at either end of the floor. The Huskies and Bulldogs combined for one of the sloppiest opening 10 minutes in basketball history, a dreadful display that mirrored that of the chaotic root of the sport invented by Dr. James Naismith in 1891.
In the game’s opening five minutes the clubs combined for nine missed shots and as many turnovers (5) as total points scored (5). It was not until the midway point of the first half that a team reached double figures when Cordarius Johnson connected on a three-pointer to make it 10-6 in favor of the Bulldogs. Slow, disjointed and woeful accurately described the play in the first half, a period in which the Huskies somehow managed a 21-17 advantage.
The visitors finally showed life at the start of the second half, with better motion offense and crisp passing aiding a 9-4 run. Though Louisiana Tech cut the deficit to two soon after, it appeared as though the Huskies were the team in command. Northeastern carried a lead throughout the second half, earning multiple offensive opportunities with aggressive work on the glass.
In the game’s final minutes, however, NU made critical errors down the stretch that wiped away what should have been a certain victory. With less than two minutes remaining, Northeastern committed four turnovers, failed to make a field goal and allowed the Bulldogs numerous open looks, resulting in Tech’s first second half lead with 59 seconds remaining. Joel Smith had an opportunity to tie the game at the buzzer, but his three-pointer rimmed out as time expired, giving the Bulldogs a 56-53 win.
Player of the Game:
Though the play was sloppy at best, Northeastern surprisingly had three players nearing double-double totals in Reggie Spencer, Quincy Ford and Jonathan Lee. Spencer was the only player to accomplish the feat, dropping 10 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. Ford finished one rebound shy after scoring 10 points and Lee finished one point shy after collecting 10 boards.
Spencer led an aggressive Husky effort on the backboards, using his 6-foot-7 frame to establish position under the basket and work relentlessly for offensive rebounds. Spencer was only 5 of 13 shooting, however, and one has to wonder of the outcome had he been able to convert on a few more shots. Still, with three assists and only one turnover to go along with his double-double, Spencer’s 32 minutes on the court were some of his best in an NU uniform.
The Takeaway:
Another disappointing loss for the Huskies, their fifth in a row. Once again the team had trouble taking care of the basketball, committing 21 turnovers, many of them unforced and simply inexcusable. There are a number of reasons why Northeastern is in the midst of a five game slump, but the discussion begins and ends with turnovers. If the Huskies can’t take better care of the ball and cut the turnovers to a more manageable number (read: under 15) then they won’t beat many teams this season.
While a bad shooting night was a major reason for the loss — 20 of 60 from the floor, 3 of 17 from three-point range — awful free throw shooting was the silent killer for the visitors. Northeastern hit only 10 of 23 shots from the charity stripe, a paltry 43.5 percent. Ford was the worst offender, making only one of six shots despite entering the game as a 73.9 percent shooter from the line. NU endured multiple cold stretches without a field goal, but free throws could have allowed the Huskies to keep putting points on the board and continue to build a lead that was as high as nine in the second half. By failing to capitalize on trips to the line the Huskies wasted opportunities to score until the Bulldogs caught up in the final minute.
A lineup wrinkle worth noting was Bill Coen’s switch to a three-guard, two-forward lineup that seemed to work well at times. Marco Banegas-Flores shared the floor with Lee and Joel Smith at times, and at one point was with Ford, who has the shooting range of a guard. This smaller but quicker lineup forced Tech to extend its defense to the outside and spread the court, freeing up space inside. This allowed the guards to penetrate into the paint and create open shot opportunities for other players. The drawback with this lineup is that it sacrifices size and muscle down low, but considering NU had a 50-32 advantage on the glass it was worth the change to try and create more offense.
Finally, the play of the freshman continues to be encouraging. Ford and Spencer seem to be two of the most talented rookies NU has had in the last few seasons, and it will be exciting to watch them develop. Banegas-Flores also earned his most playing time as a Husky (19 minutes) and could see more time in the future. The hope is that as the younger players develop so too will the team an some of these losses can turn to wins.
Quote of Note:
“Their coach was complaining that the ball was lopsided, that might have something to do with [it]. He wanted the referee to swap the ball out, the game ball. I asked our guys, they didn’t seem to mention it but their guys seemed to think that the ball was not [round], which would help to explain some of the shooting out there, I hope.”
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