Gameday Information: Game No. 6 vs. Fairfield
When	Saturday, Nov. 29  |  3 p.m.
Where	Cabot Center  |  Boston, Mass.  |  Tickets
Broadcast and stats	Live stream  |  Live Stats  |  Radio: WRBB (104.9 FM)
Game Notes	Northeastern (PDF)
Social media	@GoNUmbasketball facebook.com/GoNUmbasketball instagram.com/GoNUathletics Join the conversation, use #GoNU

BOSTON—The Northeastern men's basketball team will return home to Huntington Avenue for its first home game of the season on Saturday. The 4-1 Huskies—off to one of the best starts in program history—welcome New England foe Fairfield (2-3) to Cabot Center. Game time is set for 3 p.m.

Ticket information is available online at GoNU.com/tickets. A free live stream of the game will be available at GoNU.com/xstream. Fans can also follow a live call of the game on WRBB radio (104.9 FM, WRBBsports.com).

(Fan reminder: Saturday's game will be played at Cabot Center on the Northeastern campus.)

Story lines
• Northeastern and Fairfield will meet for the 11th time in series history on Saturday at Cabot Center in Boston. The game will be just the second between the New England foes since 1990. The Huskies won seven straight games against the Stags from 1974 to 1990, before dropping a 64-60 decision a year ago on the road. NU leads the all-time series, 8-2.

• Bill Coen's Huskies are off to one of the best starts in program history. NU opened the season 4-0 before a road loss to Massachusetts on Wednesday. The 4-0 start was just the fourth for NU since the NCAA went to a three-division format following the 1972-73 season.

• NU captured its first in-season tournament title in five years in November, defeating Navy and Manhattan in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off. The previous in-season tournament championship came in 2009-10 at the Cable Car Classic. NU played arguably its best 20 minutes of the season in the first half against Manhattan, scoring 44 points on 67 percent shooting en route to a 20-point halftime lead.

• Scott Eatherton was named CAA Player of the Week on Monday. The senior forward averaged 19.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in NU's 3-0 week, which included a road victory at ACC foe Florida State and wins over Navy and defending MAAC champion Manhattan to capture the Hall of Fame Tip-Off title.

• The Huskies have registered assists on better than 67 percent of made field goals, and are averaging a CAA-best 15.6 assists per game.

Last time out
The Northeastern men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, 79-54, to intrastate foe Massachusetts on Wednesday afternoon at the Mullins Center in Amherst. The Huskies (4-1) struggled offensively, spotting the Minutemen (5-1) a 17-point first half lead from which they would never recover. The UMass pressure bothered NU all afternoon long. UM forced 20 Northeastern turnovers, and scored 27 points off the NU miscues. Jabarie Hinds led the Minutemen with 14 points, while Derrick Gordon continued his strong play for Massachusetts, scoring 13 points to go with three assists and five steals. Cady Lalanne (12) and Donte Clark (10) also reached double figures for the home team. David Walker (Stow, Ohio) led the Huskies with 14 points. Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pennsylvania) registered his fourth straight double-figure scoring effort with 11 points. The duo also recorded a team-high in assists, with three each. T.J. Williams (Pflugerville, Texas) chipped in with 12 points. Northeastern, the CAA's top 3-point shooting team, struggled early on in Amherst, missing its first five from beyond the arc. The Huskies shot just 30 percent over the first 15 minutes, before hitting five of their final seven shots before intermission. The Minutemen, meanwhile, posted their best first-half shooting performance of the season, connecting on 16-of-32 attempts.

When last we met: NU vs. Fairfield
Northeastern's early-season struggles at the free-throw line continued in the Dec. 15 match-up, negating a spirited second-half rally in a 64-60 loss to Fairfield in Bridgeport, Conn. The Huskies used a 16-0 run to erase a double-digit halftime deficit but, ultimately, could not overcome 16 misses from the charity stripe. In the loss, Scott Eatherton continued his torrid pace for Northeastern. The junior forward registered his NCAA-leading eighth double-double of the season with 22 points and 14 rebounds. After spotting the Stags a 14-point lead just minutes into the second half, the Huskies used a relentless full-court press to mount a 16-0 run and take a 40-38 lead with just under 13 minutes to play. Three minutes later, with NU still leading by two, Fairfield's Maurice Barrow went off, scoring Fairfield's next 11 points as the Stags grabbed a 57-53 lead and never again trailed. For the Huskies, Reggie Spencer joined Eatherton in double-figures with 17 points. David Walker tallied seven points, while guard T.J. Williams added six points and a career-high seven rebounds. Marcus Gilbert led Fairfield with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Barrow scored 20 points for the Stags, 15 of which came in the second half.

A win would...
• Give Northeastern five wins in the month of November for the first time in program history
• Be the earliest date that NU has ever reached win number five on a season
• Make Northeastern 5-1 for just the 11th time in program history, and for just the fourth time in the Division I era

4-0 start among best in program history
Head coach Bill Coen's Huskies opened the season 4-0, following wins over Boston University, Florida State, Navy, and Manhattan. The Huskies suffered their first setback in the season's fifth game against Massachusetts. NU has opened a season 4-0 only three other times since the NCAA went to a three-division format following the 1972-73 season. The Huskies opened the 1980-81 schedule at 7-0 and finished the season 24-6, winning the America East regular season and tournament titles and advancing to the NCAA tournament second round. A year later, the 1981-82 squad started 6-0 en route to a 23-7 campaign that again concluded with conference regular season and tournament titles and  a second round NCAA tournament appearance. In 2005-06, CAA Player of the Year J.J. Barea led NU to a 4-0 start and a 19-11 overall record.

Getting to four faster than before
Northeastern recorded its fourth win of the season on Nov. 23, with a 65-51 victory over Manhattan in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off title game. That equals the program record for the earliest date in the season to win number four—matching the 2012-13 squad, which defeated Belmont, 74-71, on Nov. 23, 2012, to improve to 4-1. That year, the Huskies went on to a 20-13 mark, including a 14-4 CAA record and a regular season conference title.

The nation takes notice
Northeastern has earned the attention of the voters in both the Associated Press Top 25 and  CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 polls. The Huskies, who are off to one of the best starts in program history, are among teams receiving votes in the AP poll and are ranked No. 22 in the latest College Insider poll.

Champions!
The Huskies captured their first in-season tournament title in five years in November, defeating Navy (68-44) and Manhattan (65-51) in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Mohegan Sun Arena. NU's previous in-season tournament championship came in 2009-10 at the Cable Car Classic. That year, the Huskies defeated host Santa Clara (62-50) and Kent State (61-58) as part of an 11-game winning streak. NU finished that season 20-13 and earned an NIT berth.

Eatherton emerges; wins CAA Player of the Week, Hall of Fame Tip-Off MVP
Northeastern senior Scott Eatherton was named the CAA Men's Basketball Player of the Week, the conference office announced on Nov. 24. Eatherton averaged 19.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in Northeastern's 3-0 week, which included a road victory at ACC foe Florida State (76-73) and wins over Navy (68-44) and defending MAAC champion Manhattan (65-51) to capture the Hall of Fame Tip-Off title. The Hershey, Pennsylvania, native was named Most Valuable Player of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off's Springfield bracket following his outstanding tournament performance. He scored 16 points at Florida State, tallied a team-high 19 points and eight boards against Navy, and finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks against Manhattan. He shot better than 50 percent from the floor in each of NU's three games and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line against the Jaspers.

Sharing the rock
Northeastern has played a selfless brand of basketball through five games. The Huskies have registered assists on better than 67 percent of made field goals, and are averaging a CAA-best 15.6 assists per game.

Up next
Northeastern will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 3, when it travels to crosstown foe Harvard for a 7 p.m. tip-off at  Lavietes Pavilion on NESN. The meeting will be the 51st between the programs, with Harvard holding a 36-14 series lead. The Crimson won a season ago at Matthews Arena, but the Huskies have won three of the last five head-to-head match-ups, including a 76-71 double-overtime road affair on Dec. 10, 2008.

  Tweets by @GoNUmbasketball .