BOSTON—The Northeastern men's basketball team will return to action on Wednesday against crosstown foe Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion. The Huskies, at 5-1, are off to one of the best starts in program history, while the defending Ivy League champion Crimson also enter the game with one loss, at 4-1. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on NESN and on the
Ivy League Digital Network.
NESN will re-air the game on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 2 p.m., and on Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2:30 p.m.
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).
Story lines• Northeastern and Harvard will meet for the 51st time in series history on Wednesday at Lavietes Pavilion, with the Crimson holding a 36-14 series lead. Harvard 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, in the last meeting at Lavietes Pavilion.
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Bill Coen's Huskies are off to one of the best starts in school history. Northeastern is 5-1 for just the 11th time in the program's 95-year history, and for just the fourth time since the NCAA went to a three-division format following the 1972-73 season. NU's win over Fairfield on Nov. 29 secured the program's first-ever five-win November.
• 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.
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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 67 percent of made field goals, and are averaging a CAA-best 15.3 assists per game.
Last time outNortheastern (5-1) raced to a 17-point first-half lead and never trailed in a 57-48 win over Fairfield (2-4) in men's basketball action on Saturday at Cabot Center in Boston. With the victory, coach
Bill Coen's Huskies secured the first-ever five-win November in program history.
Scott Eatherton (Hershey, Pennsylvania) scored a game-high 18 points and corralled a team-best seven rebounds to lead the NU effort. It was Eatherton's fifth consecutive double-figure scoring game.
Zach Stahl (Chanhassen, Minnesota) and
T.J. Williams (Pflugerville, Texas) also scored in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Stahl, Williams, and
Quincy Ford (St. Petersburg, Florida) grabbed six rebounds apiece for NU, which won the rebounding battle, 36-35.
David Walker (Stow, Ohio) dished a game-best five assists.
When last we met: NU vs. HarvardScott Eatherton notched his sixth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds, but the Northeastern men's basketball team could not overcome Harvard's 57-percent shooting performance in a 72-64 defeat on Dec. 4, 2013, at Matthews Arena. Trailing by 11 with just over nine minutes remaining, Northeastern twice whittled the deficit to six, but could not get any closer as Harvard made six of its last seven shots to close out the game. Eatherton led three Huskies in double-figure scoring.
Reggie Spencer scored 16 points, while
David Walker chipped in 12 points, six assists and three steals.
T.J. Williams added eight points. Kyle Casey and Wesley Saunders paced the Crimson with 17 points each, while Siyani Chambers added eight points and a game-high eight assists.
The last time at LavietesManny Adako hit a pair of jumpers to give the Northeastern men's basketball team the lead and Chaisson Allen hit a fall-away jumper with 19 seconds left to secure the win as the Huskies walked away with a 76-71 double overtime victory over Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass., on Dec. 10, 2008. After Harvard overcame a seven-point deficit with under a minute to play in regulation, the two teams went into the first overtime tied 62-62. Down two in overtime, with three seconds left, NU's Nkem Ojougboh nailed a hook shot in the lane that tied it at 66-66 and sent the game into the second extra frame. Leading by one in the final minute of the second overtime, Allen took an off-balance shot from the key just in front of the three-point line and connected, giving NU a three-point cushion, 74-71. After a Harvard turnover, Janning was fouled and iced the game with free throws. Janning finished with 21 points in a career-high 47 minutes. Allen finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. Adako chipped in 12 points and Ojougboh recorded his fifth-career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Jeremy Lin led Harvard with 18 points and seven assists.
A win would...> Make Northeastern 6-1 for just the eighth time in program history, and for just the fourth time in the Division I era
> Equal the second-best mark for NU since the NCAA went to a three-division format following the 1972-73 season
A look at NU's best one-loss startsA win on Wednesday would improve Northeastern to 6-1 for just the eighth time in program history, and for the fourth time in the Division I era (1973-74). Here's a look at the best one-loss starts in program history:
1931-32 - 5-1
1933-34 - 8-1
1951-52 - 5-1
1962-63 - 8-1
1963-64 - 5-1
1966-67 - 8-1
1968-69 - 6-1
1980-81 - 10-1
1981-82 - 6-1
2005-06 - 6-1
2014-15 - 5-1
Start among best in program historyNortheastern won five games in the month of November for the first time in program history. At 5-1, the Huskies are off to one of the best starts in 95 seasons of basketball on Huntington Avenue. Head coach
Bill Coen's squad 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 had 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 started 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.
Up nextNortheastern will return home on Saturday, Dec. 6, when it welcome Western Michigan to Matthews Arena for a 4 p.m. tip-off. The meeting will be just the second ever between the programs. The Broncos defeated the Huskies, 75-60, on Dec. 23, 2009, at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii.
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