BOSTON – After a 10-day layoff, the Northeastern men's basketball team is back in action on Saturday night when the Huskies battle No. 22/21 Virginia. Tip-off at the John Paul Jones Arena is set for 6 p.m. on the ACC Network.
 
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
 
1. SERIES HISTORY VS. VIRGINIA
Northeastern and Virginia have played just one time in the teams' history, a 82-60 win for the Cavaliers in the season opener in 1989. Virginia is the fifth Power 5 school the Huskies have played in the past four seasons.
 
2. AGAINST THE BEST
Saturday is the fourth of five games this season against teams that reached the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Huskies have already battled 2023 Atlantic Sun champion Kennesaw State, Ivy League champion Princeton, and America East champion Vermont, and also has College of Charleston (CAA champion) on the schedule later this season.
 
It is also the 35th time that Northeastern will take on opponent ranked in the Associated Press poll, and second time in as many seasons. The Huskies are looking for its first win over a ranked team since Nov. 27, 2015 (No. 15 Miami). 
 
3. OFFENSE IS CLICKING
The Huskies are averaging 74.2 points per game early in the season, good for seventh in the CAA and up nearly 10 points from last season's 65.3 ppg and 64.3 ppg in 2021-22. Northeastern has already surpassed 80 points three times in 10 games after doing so just twice in each of the last two seasons combined, including a 93-point outburst against Georgia Southern on Nov. 21. It was the first time Northeastern reached the 90-point plateau since Nov. 19, 2019.
 
The Huskies have seen four players score 10+ points six times in 10 games early in the year. Last season, Northeastern had four players reach double figures in a game just four times.