ODU 69, NU 57: Monarchs Maneuver Past Huskies Late, Sweep Season Series
What happened?
Forty-eight hours after dropping a 71-53 decision at Drexel Saturday afternoon, the Huskies were back in action Monday evening at Old Dominion. The Huskies didn’t seem to show any fatigue from the short rest and long bus ride to Norfolk, Va. Quincy Ford nailed a three and converted a layup down low for the Huskies’ first five points, and both teams traded buckets over the game’s first 10 minutes. An advantage on the glass and added scoring punch off the bench from Chris Cooper and Trian Iliadis allowed the Monarchs to build a lead as large as 11 over the next five minutes. NU big man Kauri Black got going late by scoring six points and adding a block and two assists in the final minutes of the half to help the visitors get back in the game and trail 28-25 at halftime.
More hard work on the backboards allowed ODU to push ahead in the second half, grabbing an eight point lead with 9:55 to play. Northeastern hung around, however, and pressure defense forced turnovers which the Huskies converted into points to trail 49-47 with 6:50 to play.
The turning point of the game came with 4:44 to play. With the Huskies trailing 53-49, a poor inbounds pass was intercepted by Cooper near midcourt. Trying to prevent an easy layup or dunk, Black reached out and grabbed Cooper around the waist. The officials deemed the foul intentional, allowing ODU to get two free throws and the ball while Black’s night was done with five fouls. The momentum swing doomed the Huskies, who went 4:53 without a field goal. A late 11-1 run sealed a 69-57 victory for the hosts.
Player of the Game:
Had foul trouble not limited playing time Black may have been Northeastern’s player of the game. In 18 minutes on the floor the junior was active at both ends, scoring eight points, grabbing four rebounds, and dishing two assists to go along with a block and three steals. Conventional wisdom says Ford (game-high 18 points) or Jonathan Lee (13 points) would earn player of the game honors, but I’m going with Alwayne Bigby. In 33 minutes of action Bigby was an efficient 3 of 6 from the floor for seven points. The redshirt sophomore also snagged seven rebounds and dropped three assists while snatching two steals.
Three ODU players scored 12 points or better, but I’m going with Iliadis as the overall player of the game. In 27 minutes off the bench the guard dropped a game-high 18 points by burying 3 three pointers and converting on 7 of 8 trips to the line. Iliadis also led his team with three helpers and three steals and even contributed a block. Smooth throughout, Iliadis added another dimension to ODU’s attack.
The Takeaway:
Don’t let the final score fool you. This game was much closer than the scoreboard indicates. Northeastern played some of its best ball of the season against one of the better teams in the league. In fact the score sheet dictates that. ODU shot 42.6 percent from the floor, NU shot 41.1. ODU grabbed 40 rebounds, NU had 34. ODU had 13 assists, NU had 11. ODU had 10 steals, NU had 8. ODU had 32 points in the paint, NU had 34. The Huskies matched the Monarchs in nearly every statistical category.
The one category Northeastern clearly fell short in was free throw shooting. Old Dominion made 34 trips to the line and made 25 freebies. The visitors only made 15 visits to the stripe and made only 7. These are strikingly similar to when the teams met at Matthews Arena in December. In that game ODU was 27 of 34 from the line while NU was 13 of 16. Though the percentage was much better in the first matchup, once again the Monarchs found their way to the free throw line more than twice as often as the Huskies. NU needs to find a way to get to the line more often, and then convert when they’re there.
You really have to like what you saw out of Black tonight if you’re a Northeastern fan. His night was dampened when he fouled out with under five to go, but he showed tremendous energy and seemed to find the ball in key moments in the first half. Black scored 12 points or more in three of the team’s first four games, all wins. His playing time began to decline in December, but I still believe his combination of size and ballhandling skill can be an asset to this team, especially when he works off the ball and cuts into the paint.
Conversely, Joel Smith had another tough go of it. He finished with only two points on 1 of 6 shooting and failed to convert on any of his four three pointers. He did lead the team with eight rebounds, but he needs to be a scorer. In his last two games Smith is 3 of 15 from the floor and 0 for 8 from long range with only six points. Even if he’s having a rough shooting night Smith needs to score in double-figures with consistency.
A night like this also reinforces how difficult the CAA can be. I thought Northeastern responded very well to its setback Saturday at Drexel despite a long bus ride on short rest. The team battled hard the entire night and at times seemed to frustrate the Monarchs. The team will have no time to dwell on the loss though: Delaware visits Matthews Arena in less than 48 hours.
Finally, the significance of this win could have an impact in early March. The win not only propels the Monarchs to 7-2 in the league, it also gives them the season series and tiebreaker over the Huskies. There is still a lot of basketball to play, but ODU may have cemented its place atop NU in the conference leaderboard.
Quote of Note
Blaine Taylor, on his team’s resilience after Saturday’s loss at VCU: “We’re like a prizefighter. We got to keep answering the bell for every round. Probably going to take a few wallops like we took our last game, but how are we going to come out and answer the bell the next round?”
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