What happened?

It was a back-and-forth game that saw 12 ties and 14 lead changes, many in the fast-paced, high-energy first half. The crowds for both teams and the players fed off of each other’s energy, creating a thrilling environment to start off the basketball season.

Kauri Black put the Huskies on the board first with a layup only 13 seconds into the game, then an Alwayne Bigby layup made it 4-0 to match what would be the team’s largest lead of the first half. Boston University would later go on an 11-0 run to take a 7-point advantage with 6:28 to go in the first half, the Terriers’ largest lead of the game. Towards the end of the period, Joel Smith broke the 7^th tie of the game with a Joel Smith jumper, then the teams traded blocked shots in the final minute. The half came to a close with D.J. Irving driving to the basket, but he lost control of the ball and neither team picked it up in time to attempt a shot before the buzzer.

Northeastern led for most of the 2^nd half, taking an 11-point lead with 4:53 left to go in regulation. The Terriers got going with a D.J. Irving layup at 4:01 to spark a 12-0 run. Matt Griffin’s 3-pointer gave BU a 1-point lead with 1:05 on the clock before Joel Smith nailed a pair of free throws to put NU up 64-63. Alwayne Bigby sent Darryl Partin to the line and Partin hit the first of his free throws but missed the second. Jon Lee then had an opportunity at the line but missed with 10 seconds to go. He made up for it with a block on the other end, swatting away a D.J. Irving attempt for three with 2 seconds remaining that would have given the Terriers the victory.

In overtime, Boston University had a pair of 3-point leads, last as late as 1:58 before Kashief Edwards nailed a pair of free throws to open up a 12-2 run that closed the game. Of Joel Smith’s 20 points, 6 game in the extra 5 minutes including 4 free throws in the last 11 seconds.

Player of the Game:

Joel Smith led the Huskies in both scoring (20) and rebounding (12). He also had 5 assists, 2^nd on the team behind Jon Lee’s 6, and a mean block on Patrick Hazel in the 2^nd half. He didn’t find the basket until he hit his first two of ten free throws (he went 10-10 from the line on the game) with 5:34 left in the first half, but his game took off from there. His on-court leadership was evident even before that, taking charge of the team from the opening tip. He played 43 of the game’s 45 minutes.

Reggie Spencer also deserves a mention, notching a double-double in his first collegiate game – the first double-double in a Northeastern debut since Chaisson Allen in 2007 (11 points, 10 rebounds). He was on the court for big minutes, especially in the second half. With Kauri Black fouled out, Spencer filled in some critical minutes with 16 points and 10 boards, leading the team with 2 blocks before he was also disqualified.

The Takeaway:

First, the play of the big men – especially the freshmen. Kauri Black was aggressive in the paint, posting a very respectable 12 points and 8 rebounds in 19 minutes of play before his 5^th foul. The fouls were an issue for him all season long last year, and he has shown that his time on the court is too valuable for him to be sitting on the bench. Kashief Edwards was also a strong presence, despite posting only 8 points and 3 rebounds (2 offensive). Quincy Ford also had a solid game, and, like Spencer, was able to fill in minutes down the stretch when he was needed due to foul trouble. It’s been at least two seasons since Northeastern dominated the glass as well as they did, pulling down 52 rebounds to BU’s 32. Twice in 2010-11, the Huskies grabbed a total of 19 rebounds. On Friday, they had 19 offensive boards.

Ryan Pierson was the least effective big man on the floor for NU after being the best for most of last year. However, it was only the second time he has come off the bench, after he didn’t start against Furman last year due to sickness (and was not present for the game at George Mason due to family matters). It’s possible that he is more comfortable when he can get started right away, which wasn’t the case on Friday. Spencer, Black, Edwards and Ford all stepped in to make up for Pierson’s lost production.

Overall, it was a solid team effort with four players reaching double-digit scoring and four with at least eight rebounds. The team totaled 14 assists on 28 made field goals (62 shots, 45.2%), led by Jon Lee’s six. It’s the team culture and the ability to have everybody contribute that will win games for Northeastern this season. They’ll need to continue that, as well as the strong post play, to be competitive in every game – although they do have the pure talent to beat a number of teams.

Quotes of Note:

Bill Coen: “I have a guy on my staff named Antonio Reynolds-Dean…When he asked me what we needed, I said ‘find somebody that looks just like you, plays just like you, blocks shots like you. We were very, very fortunate to convince Reggie to come up to Boston all the way from Alabama.” Hear all of his comments:

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Joe Jones: “I was not surprised by the glass. We went into the game knowing that was probably gonna tell the tale of who was gonna win the game – who controlled the backboard. Obviously, they did.” Hear his comments, along with those of senior Darryl Partin and sophomore D.J. Irving:

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Andy Towne Audio, Basketball, Press Pass BU