BOSTON– Fresh off of a 3-0 homestand, and winning eight of its last nine games, the Northeastern men's basketball team is back out on the road this weekend beginning on Thursday night at UNCW.
The Huskies are looking for their fifth-straight win over the Seahawks and are playing for the season sweep over UNCW for the second-straight year when the two teams go head-to-head Thursday at 7 p.m. at Trask Coliseum on CAA.TV.
Here is what you need to know about Thursday's game:
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
- Birds and Dogs
- UNCW enters Thursday night's game on a five-game losing streak, as they have also dropped seven of their last eight with the lone win coming against William & Mary on Jan. 24
- UNCW is 8-18 overall, are 4-8 at home this year picking up a pair of conference wins
- The team's 4-9 conference record sits in a tie for eighth in the CAA
LEADING THE WAY
- UNCW senior forward Devontae Cacok, leads the team with a 15.5 ppg average while also pulling down 12.0 rebounds per game in his final year with the Seahawks
- Also averaging double-digits are Jeantal Cylla (13.5 ppg) and Ty Gadsden (10.7 ppg)
- Freshman Kai Toews continues to lead the conference and ranks third in the nation with 200 assists this season (7.7 per game)
ALL-TIME SERIES
- This will be the 27th meeting between the two teams in a series that Northeastern leads, 14-12
- The Huskies snapped a four-game UNCW win-streak last season with an 81-77 overtime win in Wilmington and then continued on to sweep the Seahawks for the first time since the 2010-11 season with a 107-100 overtime victory in Boston, putting up the most points of the Bill Coen era during that game
- The Huskies easily downed UNCW 79-52 in the CAA Semifinals to pick up their third-straight win over UNCW for the first time since 2010-11 and added yet another win over the Seahawks earlier this season in Boston
- OT with no points
- The last time out against Elon (Feb. 9) the Huskies, once again, went to overtime with the Phoenix
- The last time out, in Elon, Northeastern got out on an 8-0 run to start the OT frame, ultimately putting up 18 points in the five minute period (after scoring just 23 in the second half)
- This time, the Huskies scored 12-straight points to come away with the 72-60 victory, holding Elon scoreless in the extra frame, the first time in program history Northeastern has held their opponent scoreless in OT in 62 previous attempts dating back to the team's first OT game in the 1928-29 season
- The closest the Huskies have held an opponent scoreless in previous overtime attempts include a pair of two-point OT games
- Northeastern held Southern Illinois to just two points on Nov. 16, 2010 and held Central Florida to two points on Dec. 19, 1987
- 1,000 points score… and more
- With his 31-point effort against Boston University in the season opener, senior Vasa Pusica went over the 1,000-point scoring mark in his five-year career
- Pusica finished his career at San Diego with 393 points scored in his freshman and sophomore campaigns
- Last year, his first year competing for the Huskies, Pusica netted 592 points (just outside of the NU Top-10)
- He currently stands at 898 points in the Red and Black
| Yr. |
School |
Point Total |
| Fr. |
San Diego |
144 |
| So. |
San Diego |
249 |
| RJr. |
Northeastern |
592 |
| RSr. |
Northeastern |
306 |
|
Total |
1,291 |
|
at Northeastern |
898 |
- Among two-year players at Northeastern, Pusica's 898 points ranks fourth all-time
| Name |
Points |
Transferred from |
| 1. Scott Eatherton |
1,021 |
St. Francis (Pa.) |
| 2. Marcus Barnes |
953 |
Miami (Fla.) |
| 3. Lonnie Harrell |
949 |
Georgetown |
| 4. Vasa Pusica |
898 |
San Diego |
