Northeastern was overmatched in its first-ever National Invitation Tournament game, falling to Memphis, 90-65, Wednesday night in front of 7,392 fans at FedExForum. The Huskies finish the season 21-10. The 21 wins are the most since 1990-91.
NU was playing without junior point guard Jose Juan Barea, who was serving a suspension for his actions in the America East championship game.
Senior Marcus Barnes' three-pointer with 13:58 left in the first half cut the deficit to five, 11-6, but the Tigers went on a 10-1 run over the next four minutes to open up a 14-point lead. Memphis' five baskets in that stretch were scored by five different players.
The Huskies made a modest run, out-scoring the Tigers 7-2 over the next minute to get within nine. Sophomore Bennet Davis made a three, junior Janon Cole buried a long jump shot, and Barnes made a twisting jumper to make it 23-14 with 8:26 to play in the half.
An 11-1 Tiger spurt followed, with Anthony Rice, Darius Washington and Jeremy Hunt each hitting a shot from behind the arc.
Washington's two free throws with 21 seconds reamining gave Memphis a 23-point lead at 44-21, its largest of the opening stanza.
Freshman Shawn James' layup just before the half made it 44-23. The Huskies shot just 31 percent (8-for-26) in the first 20 minutes, while the Tigers made good on 49 percent (18-for-37) of their field goal attempts.
The Huskies got as close as 17 points in the second half. Junior Aaron Davis' three from the corner made it 57-40, but the Tigers scored 15 of the next 18 points to take a game-high 29-point lead. Rice's bucket with 11 minutes to go put his team up 72-43.
NU didn't quit as it outscored Memphis 17-7 over the next six minutes. James was the catalyst in the run, hitting a pair of shots from the floor and going 4-for-4 from the line.
Northeastern shot much better in the second half, when it went 13-for-26 (50 percent), but Memphis stepped it up too, shooting 56 percent (15-for-27).
Barnes led four Huskies in double figures with 19 points. Martinez scored 15, James added 12, and Davis finished with 10. James also had seven rebounds and seven blocks.
Jeremy Hunt paced the Tigers with 24 points.
Without Barea, NU had difficulty finding an offensive rhythm and was careless with the ball, as evidenced by its season-high 23 turnovers.
The Tigers (20-15) host Virginia Tech Saturday at 11 a.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs MEMPHIS
03/16/05 7:00 pm at Memphis, Tenn. (FedExForum)
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VISITORS: Northeastern 21-10
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 James, Shawn........ f 4-8 0-3 4-4 3 4 7 3 12 1 2 7 0 31
33 Cole, Janon......... f 1-5 0-0 1-2 3 3 6 4 3 0 3 0 2 23
03 Barnes, Marcus...... g 6-14 1-6 6-9 1 2 3 1 19 2 6 1 0 31
11 Martinez, Adrian.... g 5-11 4-7 1-2 2 1 3 4 15 2 4 0 0 27
22 Kelly, Bobby........ g 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 4 4 0 2 2 2 0 1 20
01 Popoola, Dipo....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
10 Kirkland, Jerome.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 3 0 0 1 0 0 14
12 Davis, Aaron........ 3-5 2-3 2-2 0 1 1 0 10 1 0 0 0 19
14 Davis, Bennet....... 1-5 1-2 0-0 0 3 3 1 3 1 2 0 0 14
15 Farmer, Jeff........ 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 4 1 1 3 0 0 16
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 21-52 8-22 15-23 13 19 32 21 65 10 23 8 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-26 30.8% 2nd Half: 13-26 50.0% Game: 40.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 25.0% 2nd Half: 5-10 50.0% Game: 36.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 11-16 68.8% Game: 65.2% 3,2
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HOME TEAM: MEMPHIS 20-15
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 ERWIN, Duane........ f 4-7 0-0 2-2 1 5 6 1 10 0 2 1 0 20
55 BARCLAY, Arthur..... f 4-7 0-0 2-3 5 1 6 3 10 1 1 1 0 16
05 HUNT, Jeremy........ g 10-15 2-3 2-2 3 4 7 4 24 3 3 0 6 34
23 RICE, Anthony....... g 3-9 1-6 0-0 1 1 2 2 7 0 1 1 1 26
35 WASHINGTON, Darius.. g 4-7 1-3 4-5 0 1 1 4 13 5 3 0 0 29
01 WILLIAMS, Waki...... 3-5 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 3 6 4 0 2 1 24
03 THIERO, Almamy...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
10 CARNEY, Rodney...... 4-9 2-5 4-4 1 4 5 0 14 3 0 1 0 27
14 NJOYA, Simplice..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5
15 DORSEY, Joey........ 1-5 0-0 4-10 2 2 4 4 6 1 1 1 2 18
TEAM................
Totals.............. 33-64 6-17 18-26 15 22 37 23 90 17 11 7 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-37 48.6% 2nd Half: 15-27 55.6% Game: 51.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-13 30.8% 2nd Half: 2-4 50.0% Game: 35.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 14-21 66.7% Game: 69.2% 3,1
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Officials: John Grobe, Sean Wright, Ron Groover
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. MEMPHIS-None.
Attendance: 7392
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 23 42 - 65
MEMPHIS....................... 44 46 - 90
Points in the paint-NU 20,MEM 52. Points off turnovers-NU 10,MEM 28.
2nd chance points-NU 11,MEM 17. Fast break points-NU 6,MEM 17.
Bench points-NU 14,MEM 26. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-02:25, MEM 2nd-00:58.
