Sophomore guard Jose Juan Barea proved he loves playing at Lundholm Gymnasium as he set a career regular-season high in points for the second time on New Hampshire's homecourt, netting 31 in Northeastern's 75-72 win over the Wildcats Sunday afternoon.
Barea was 12-for-21 from the field, including 6-for-11 from three-point range. The six three-pointers are a career best.
In a 75-61 win last season at UNH, Barea poured in a then career-high 28 points. His overall career high is 38 points, which he set against Maine in last year's America East quarterfinals.
Northeastern (8-5, 2-0 AE) went into the locker room with a 44-36 advantage and expanded it to 47-36 on a Sylbrin Robinson three-pointer 32 seconds into the second half. The Wildcats (4-8, 0-2 AE) then went on a 9-0 run to get within two, at 47-45.
UNH took a 50-49 lead on a three by Blagoj Janev at the 14:09 mark of the second, but a Barea layup with 13:36 remaining put NU up for good.
The Huskies increased their lead to a 12 on a Marcus Barnes layup with just under seven minutes left to play, but UNH went on a 16-7 run, capped by a Janev three-pointer with 1:04 showing on the clock, to make it a three-point game, at 75-72.
Both teams had trouble from the free-throw line in the last 30 seconds as Barea, Janev and D'wan Youmans, in succession, all missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Youmans' miss came with two seconds left. It was rebounded by Janev, who threw an outlet to Ronnie Dennis, whose half-court heave at the buzzer came up short.
New Hampshire led 14-8 to start the game, but Northeastern tied it at 16-16 on a layup by Youmans.
With the score knotted at 22-22, the Huskies embarked on a 10-0 run, with Barea and Youmans netting four points apiece in the stretch.
NU opened up a 13-point lead, at 37-24, on a Barea hoop with 6:09 left in the first, but the Wildcats' Roland Williams scored eight points in the final five minutes of the half to help his team get within eight, at 44-36, at the intermission.
Barnes finished with 16 points, while Robinson added 11. Craig Walls led five Wildcats in double figures with 14 points.
NU was out-rebounded, 41-29, and shot just 46 percent (6-for-13) from the charity stripe, but it made 48 percent (27-for-56) of its attempts from the field and turned the ball over just just eight times.
The Huskies, who have won three straight and five of their last six, travel to Burlington to take on Vermont Wed., Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. The game will be aired on NESN at 10:30 p.m. and can also be seen live on College Sports Television (DirecTV Channel 610).
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Northeastern University vs New Hampshire
1-04-04 1 p.m. at Durham, N.H. - Lundholm Gymnasium
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VISITORS: Northeastern University 8-5 (2-0 AE)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 WILSON, Javorie..... f 1-8 1-7 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 32
33 ROBINSON, Sylbrin... f 4-7 1-1 2-6 4 2 6 2 11 0 2 0 0 34
30 WRIGHT, Cornellius.. c 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 2 0 1 0 1 11
03 BARNES, Marcus...... g 6-15 2-9 2-2 1 1 2 2 16 2 1 0 0 34
05 BAREA, Jose Juan.... g 12-21 6-11 1-2 2 3 5 2 31 3 2 0 3 36
02 YOUMANS, D'wan...... 3-4 1-1 1-3 2 3 5 0 8 3 1 2 1 27
14 DAVIS, Bennet....... 2-5 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 2 4 1 0 0 0 20
22 KELLY, Bobby........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6
TEAM................ 4 4
Totals.............. 29-63 11-29 6-13 11 18 29 15 75 10 8 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-37 48.6% 2nd Half: 11-26 42.3% Game: 46.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-14 35.7% 2nd Half: 6-15 40.0% Game: 37.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 46.2% 2
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HOME TEAM: New Hampshire 4-8 (0-2 AE)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
30 WALLS, Craig........ f 7-9 0-0 0-0 1 10 11 2 14 2 4 2 1 33
31 WALKER, Griffin..... f 2-7 1-3 6-6 2 4 6 1 11 1 1 0 0 27
45 PETERSON, Kyle...... c 3-4 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 1 6 1 2 0 0 24
03 BULLOCK, Marcus..... g 4-7 4-5 0-0 0 3 3 4 12 3 2 0 0 32
10 DENNIS, Ronnie...... g 3-9 1-6 1-2 2 1 3 2 8 4 4 0 0 35
12 KARALIS, Ioannis.... 0-4 0-4 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 11
20 WILLIAMS, Roland.... 4-6 1-2 1-1 1 1 2 4 10 2 2 0 0 15
54 JANEV, Blagoj....... 4-10 2-5 1-3 0 3 3 3 11 0 4 0 0 23
TEAM................ 5 3 8
Totals.............. 27-56 9-25 9-12 13 28 41 17 72 15 21 2 1 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-23 56.5% 2nd Half: 14-33 42.4% Game: 48.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 6-17 35.3% Game: 36.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 2-3 66.7% Game: 75.0% 1
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Officials: Larry Last, Michael Rutherford, William Stock
Technical fouls: Northeastern University-None. New Hampshire-None.
Attendance: 913
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern University....... 44 31 - 75
New Hampshire................. 36 36 - 72
