Northeastern Finally Breaks Through

Northeastern Breaks Through Against Providence

by Phil Kasiecki

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Sooner or later, it was bound to happen, if only because there have been so many opportunities.

Since Bill Coen became the head coach at Northeastern in 2006, the Huskies have basically made a living playing teams on the road from power conferences. With two already in the books this season, the Huskies have played 12 games, all on the road, against teams from the six BCS conferences since 2006. They had close calls last season at Maryland and Boston College, and also gave the Eagles a contest two years ago, but they failed to break through. On Wednesday, they had another chance while playing at rebuilding Michigan, but they struggled to a 20-point loss.

On Saturday night, it finally happened. The Huskies broke through and knocked off Providence 70-66 in a game where they hung around, grabbed the lead and had to hang on for dear life at times.

“It finally feels good to win,” said senior forward Eugene Spates, a key player for the Huskies with 17 points, including a 5-7 night from long range, and six rebounds.

“I think our guys were disappointed in our effort against Michigan. I think that helped prepare us for tonight,” said head coach Bill Coen.

Although many felt the Huskies had a chance, and the Providence staff knew this would be a tough game, it looked like the home team had a clear edge early. The Huskies made little effort to get the ball inside on offense, while the Friars went inside at will at the other end and owned the glass at both ends all night long. But the Friars never broke the game open, and that’s probably where they lost this one.

As they have many times before, the Huskies were able to hang around, and they finally broke through late in the first half. Even though they never trailed after Matt Janning’s three-pointer 46 seconds into the second half, it was a roller coaster ride. They went up by 11 at one point, but the Friars stormed back to eventually tie it twice and had the pressure on them several other times.

Holding them off didn’t come easily, either. For much of the night, the Huskies seemed to shoot themselves in the foot with mistakes at crucial junctures. Whether it was a turnover when they had a chance to grab some momentum, losing rebounds that they appeared to have when the Friars were cutting into the lead, or the time Chaisson Allen missed a fast break layup that would have put the Huskies ahead by seven, they gave the Friars chances.

But then they were the ones who made plays down the stretch, from Janning’s tie-breaking three-pointer with 1:48 to go to a rebound off a missed free throw, while the Friars couldn’t buy a free throw the entire second half as they went 8-16 from the line and missed three in the final two minutes.

“That’s where I think the experience from last year came in,” said Coen. “All these guys have been in these types of situations, and unfortunately in the past we’ve let those games slip away by not getting a key rebound or not executing down the stretch. I think that experience that we have this year helped us in that situation.”

Indeed, experience is a big thing in the Huskies’ corner this season. Just about everyone is back from last season, and this team has a core of players that has been together under Coen since he took over and a few who came along last season. Two years ago, it was a rebuilding effort, and no one really expected them to knock off any teams they had guarantee games against. Winning one would have been less of a stretch last season, and they almost did it twice against ACC teams. But this season, the thinking has been that they have a legitimate shot to win a game or two against a BCS conference school.

This is also a team that has seen the benefits of practices and games they had with a trip to Canada in August. When their first official practice last month was better than what a lot of teams might do their first time out, to a man the Huskies all felt the trip made a difference. They still can feel the difference now, and the opposition, which was in its season opener, noticed it as one more factor that helped them.

“I think you saw a team that’s further along than a lot of teams at this time of the year,” said Providence head coach Keno Davis. “You could see Northeastern playing in the Dance very easily. They would be one of those teams that could beat somebody. They’ve got the size inside, they’ve got the shooting, they’ve got the point, they’ve got all the positions you would want as a coach.”

Against Michigan, Janning was one player who struggled. He was just 4-12 from the field and 1-8 from long range. But he came up big on Saturday, scoring 16 of his game-high 24 points in the second half. He was 10-14 from the field, including 6-7 in the second frame, but just as important, he made key plays when they counted. As is often the case, he never looked rattled and just kept playing the game, and in the end was a key part of the change from Wednesday night.

“This one feels a hundred percent different,” said the junior guard. “The locker room, everything, our intensity on the floor tonight.”

It hasn’t simply been a case of testing the team with games against high-majors since Coen arrived. He has also skillfully scheduled games against teams that play different styles, so not only has this team seen it all in terms of level of competition, but they’ve seen just about everything they could offensively or defensively. While the losses have been tough, there has been growth with this team from the experience. In each of the last two seasons, the Huskies were clearly a better team at the end of the season than they were at the beginning.

The Huskies have had plenty of chances against this kind of competition. It took 12 tries, but they broke through and now have a road win to show for their efforts against a team from a BCS conference.