BOSTON – The Northeastern men's basketball team heads into its season finale with Elon on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at Alumni Gym, on a six-game winning streak looking for a share of the CAA Regular Season crown.
With a win on Saturday, and a College of Charleston loss, the Huskies can finish on top of the CAA for the third time in program history.
The Huskies finished out their home season with an 85-70 victory over Towson, with the win meaning many things to this surging Husky squad.
Shawn Occeus went off against the Tigers for a career-high 24 points on a career-best eight made field goals, while adding four assists, a block and a steal in the contest.
Vasa Pusica added 17 points and 7 assists while
Bolden Brace tallied his second double-double of the season with a 10-point, 11 rebound effort.
NOTABLES
• This is the 98th season of Northeastern men's basketball
• Northeastern earned win #1200 at Delaware (Feb. 8) and now has an all-time record of 1,204-1,100 (.523) in 2,304 games
• The Huskies are 389-257 (.602) all-time in conference play including a 131-87 (.601) record since joining the CAA in the 2005-06 season
• Northeastern amassed 12 regular season conference championships and eight tournament titles including a 2015 CAA title which sent NU to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 24 years
•
Bill Coen is in his 12th season as the leader of the Huskies and since taking the reins, NU has accomplished the best win pct. amongst current CAA teams in conference and CAA tourney play with a 132-101 all-time mark
• The Huskies are 13-4 in the CAA and locked up the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament with their win on Thursday
•
Bill Coen is focused on the Huskies' postseason play, but there is a milestone on the horizon for the 12th year head coach
•
Shawn Occeus currently leads the CAA in thefts this season with 1.90 steals per game, and has done something no Husky had done since 2012
• Prior to the game against Towson, NU honored its lone senior,
Devon Begley, on Senior Night. Begley has played in 119 career games for the Huskies during his time on Huntington Ave. and as a solo senior class has already made history
SCOUTING THE PHOENIX
• The last time the Huskies faced the Phoenix, Elon was 10-5 on the season and off to a 2-0 start to the conference year
• Since then, Elon has gone 4-10 in conference play picking up wins against Hofstra, Charleston, Towson and Delaware
• Saturday's contest will not be the final game of the season for the Phoenix, who will face JMU in their Alumni Gym finale on Monday night
• The two teams have faced a couple of similar non-conference foes as both squads earned wins over Boston University while both fell to Furman
• Elon is on a four-game losing streak heading into their game against the Huskies and fell on Thursday at the College of Charleston
LEADING THE WAY
• Elon has four different players averaging 10+ ppg this season led by Tyler Seibring who has tallied 15.6 ppg and a team-leading 6.7 rpg
• Dainan Swoope is averaging 12.9 points while also dishing out 109 assists on the year
• Also compiling more than 10 ppg is Brian Dawkins (12.0), and Dmitri Thompson (11.7)
ALL-TIME SERIES
• This will be just the eighth meeting between the two teams in a series that the Huskies lead 4-3
• The Huskies are on a two-game win-streak over the Phoenix entering the contest
• Northeastern has also won its last two games in Elon heading into Saturday's contest
LAST TIME VS. ELON
• Behind 20 points from
Vasa Pusica, while holding Elon to just 18 first-half points, the Northeastern men's basketball team cruised to a wire-to-wire, 72-60 victory over the Phoenix Friday night at Matthews Arena
• The Huskies led by 21 points at the half, but a 25-10 Elon run to begin the second half cut that to just a six-point lead midway through the stanza
• The Phoenix were able to whittle the lead down to as little as four twice in the second half, but a
Shawn Occeus dunk brought the Husky offense to life as they were able to come away with the 12-point win
• Pusica not only tallied 20 points behind 7-of-14 shooting, 4-of-6 from behind the arc, but he added four rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals on the night for the Huskies
•
Devon Begley added to the Huskies total and filled up the stat sheet with 12 points (6-for-6 from the free throw line), five rebounds, four assists and four steals
• Elon was led by Dmitri Thompson who had 19 points and six rebounds, but committed five of Elon's 19 turnovers on the night, while Tyler Seibring came alive in the second half to record 17 points and four rebounds
THE LAST TIME OUT
• The Huskies picked up their sixth-straight victory, their 20th win of the season and their 12th home win the last time out with an 80-75 win over Towson on Senior Day
• The win locked up the two seed in the CAA Tournament -- the Huskies were selected to finish sixth this season in the preseason poll
•
Shawn Occeus led the way for the Huskies with a career-high 24 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal in the game and connected on a shot-clock beating three down the stretch that solidified the win for the Huskies
•
Vasa Pusica added 17 points and seven assists while
Bolden Brace quietly finished with a 10 point, 11 rebound double-double and Donnell Gresham also added 10 points in the victory
• In addition to his career-night, Occeus held Towson's leading scorer Zane Martin to just 11 points, but Justin Gorham went off for 28 points and 12 boards in the contest
20 WONDERFUL WINS
• With their 80-75 victory over Towson on Senior Day, the Huskies picked up their 20th win of the season (and sixth-straight)
• The win gave the Huskies their first 20-win season since 2014-15, when the Huskies went 23-12 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament
• In addition, it was the fourth of the
Bill Coen era and the 15th in program history
• Other Coen-era 20-win seasons include:
| Season |
Record |
CAA |
Finish |
Postseason |
Senior Class |
| 2017-18 |
20-9 |
13-4 |
-- |
-- |
Devon Begley |
| 2014-15 |
23-12 |
12-6 |
T-1st |
NCAA 1st Rd. |
Scott Eatherton, Reggie Spencer |
| 2012-13 |
20-13 |
14-4 |
1st |
NIT 1st Rd. |
Jon Lee, Dinko Marshavelski, Joel Smith |
| 2009-10 |
20-13 |
14-4 |
2nd |
NIT 1st Rd |
Manny Adako, Baptiste Bataille, Matt Janning, Brian McDonald, Nkem Ojougboh |
• Coen's four 20-win seasons ranks second in Northeastern coaching history behind Jim Calhoun's five such efforts (1980-81, 81-82, 83-84, 84-85, 85-86)
• Karl Fogel had three 20-win seasons in 1986-87, 90-91 and 92-93 while Dick Dukeshire had two (1962-63, 66-67) and Ron Everhart finished with one in 2004-05
MILESTONE WINS
• For the fourth-straight season and the fifth time in the last six seasons, NU has notched at least 15 victories
• The 15th win, came over UNCW (Feb. 3) and since then the Huskies have added a few more, for the most wins since the 2015-16 season
• Northeastern also earned its 10th conference victory against Towson on Feb. 10
• The 10 CAA wins mark the fifth time during the
Bill Coen-era that the Huskies have recorded double-digit conference victories and the most since the 2014-15 season (12-6)
• In addition, the Huskies picked up their 12th home victory on Saturday afternoon against William & Mary
• The 12 wins are the most at home in the
Bill Coen era (10-2 in 2006-07) and the most by the Huskies at home since going 12-2 in 1994-95 (1 postseason win)
200 ON THE HORIZON
• Northeastern men's basketball coach
Bill Coen, in his 12th season with the program is approaching his 200th career victory
• Coen enters Saturday's game with a 198-184 career record with 132 of those wins coming during conference action
• Coen would become just the third Northeastern men's basketball head coach to hit the 200-win mark
| 1. Jim Calhoun |
250-137 |
1972-86 (14 seasons) |
| 2. Dick Dukeshire |
204-100 |
1958-71 (13 seasons) |
| 3. Bill Coen |
198-184 |
2006-pres. (12 seasons) |
• Coen is the Huskies' winningest coach in conference action with 122 career conference victories
NORTHEASTERN PICKED SIXTH
• The Huskies were picked to finish sixth in the CAA in 2017-18 by the conference's coaches
• Charleston was picked to win the league while Towson was second and Elon was chosen to finish third
• NU has matched or surpassed the expectations of the preseason polls in five of the last sixth seasons.
| Season |
Preseason Pick |
Finish |
| 2017-18 |
Sixth |
-- |
| 2016-17 |
Seventh |
Sixth |
| 2015-16 |
Third |
Sixth |
| 2014-15 |
First |
First |
| 2013-14 |
Sixth |
Third |
| 2012-13 |
Fifth |
First |
| 2011-12 |
Ninth |
Seventh |
