Northeastern University Athletics

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Northeastern men's basketball team (0-2) led by five points in the first half and trailed by as little as five in the second half against one of the nation's top teams before No. 9/10 Virginia (2-0) used a big run to knock off the Huskies on Friday night at John Paul Jones Arena, 97-72.
 
Louis Bond had a career-high 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting along with four rebounds and three steals, including a string of seven straight points in the second half that brought Northeastern within five at 41-36. He was joined in double by Rashad King, who had a game-high 26 on 8-of-14 (9-of-9 FT) for a Huskies squad that finished 24-of-52 overall and 6-of-23 from three.
 
UVA, meanwhile, recovered from a 1-of-8 start to the night to finish 54% from the field, including a 19-of-31 mark (61%) in the second half to pull away. Five Cavaliers reached double digits, led by 20 apiece from Chance Mallory and Sam Lewis.
 
Northeastern hung tough throughout the first half, and took advantage of Virginia's slow start to lead by as many as five midway through the half, 14-9, after a 5-of-8 spurt capped by a layup from King.
 
The Cavaliers woke up with under 10 minutes until the break, hitting six straight shots in the midst of a 13-4 run to take the lead, and used another 11-0 run to go up by as many as 13 before the Huskies cut into the deficit late.
 
King led the way with 11 points on 3-of-7 from the floor along with three rebounds and two steals, and got help from Bond's seven straight points late in the half that helped halt a UVA run.
 
Another seven straight NU points from Bond, this time to start the second half, trimmed the gap down to five, but an 18-4 Virginia run from there put the hosts in full control the rest of the way.
 
The Huskies will return to Boston for their home opener on Tuesday night against Harvard. Tip-off at the Cabot Center is set for 7 p.m. on NESN and FloCollege.