BOSTON — It isn’t all that frequent that a team of Princeton’s quality ventures into Matthews Arena.
On Sunday afternoon, they did. The Tigers (2-0) waltzed into Boston for the back half of a home-and-home to take on Northeastern (1-0), an early-season measuring stick game to test the Huskies’ mettle against a team with real NCAA Tournament aspirations. And, for 39 minutes, Northeastern hung right with them, but a number of late miscues ultimately spoiled the home opener as they fell to Princeton, 79-76.
The Tigers entered Sunday’s contest undefeated, but not without their scares: a narrow, come-from-behind, one-point win hosting Iona on Monday and a comeback seven-point win over Duquesne on Friday. Northeastern, on the other hand, won their only matchup in a tight win at Boston University on Monday.
Sunday’s clash of the undefeateds started slowly, with neither team connecting on a field goal before the Huskies’ Harold Woods broke the ice at the 16:47 mark. After some back-and-forth play, Princeton senior guard Blake Peters knocked down consecutive threes to give the Tigers an 11-10 lead with 12:57 to play in the half.
Princeton widened their lead late in the first, as a flurry from sophomore guard Dalen Davis allowed the Tigers to establish control, taking a 25-16 lead with 4:39 remaining. Northeastern battled, though, and a quick seven points from freshman guard Ryan Williams kept the Huskies attached before an emphatic block by graduate forward Alex Nwagha on Princeton star Xaivian Lee as the buzzer sounded.
Despite shooting just 41% in the period alongside an ugly 25% from three, the Huskies had room for optimism, trailing by just five at the break. Woods was unquestionably the star, recording a game-high 16 points and eight rebounds at the half.
Northeastern shot out of the break like a team possessed; a two-minute, 9-2 run capped off by a William Kermoury three gave the Huskies their first lead since the game’s early stages.
What followed was a truly excellent display of mid-major basketball: both sides traded blows, with Kermoury and Woods doing most of the scoring for the home side, while Davis and junior superstar Caden Pierce controlled the game for Princeton. When the dust settled, Northeastern had taken their biggest lead of the game at 70-64 after Kermoury converted an and-one layup with 4:33 to play.
For a team missing arguably its best player in Masai Troutman, this was an enviable spot to be in — leading a team who received some AP Top-25 buzz by six with a touch over four minutes to play. For a Northeastern squad looking to exorcise last season’s late-game demons, Sunday’s contest provided a perfect opportunity to do just that.
Instead, what followed felt a bit like deja vu all over again. After Lee sliced the lead to four with a driving layup, Nwagha was unable to convert a two-on-one chance, turning the ball over. Two plays later, Davis converted a slicing layup while being fouled by Woods, and his subsequent free throw slashed the Tiger deficit to just one.
After the sides traded pairs of free throws (again coming off a Husky turnover), Northeastern guard Rashad King climbed high to stick back a Woods miss, stretching the lead to 74-71 with 1:37 to play. On the ensuing possession, Lee went one-for-two at the stripe, but King was unable to answer, first turning the ball over and seeing his layup roll around the rim and off just seconds later, handing the Tigers the ball down by two with 52 seconds to play.
Any scouting report would tell you covering Blake Peters in these situations would be a must; the senior guard is on pace to become Princeton’s all-time three-point leader, and was already five-for-seven from beyond the arc at this point in the game. For whatever reason – maybe the Huskies didn’t receive the report, or maybe it was in some foreign, unintelligible language – Northeastern neglected to do so. Unsurprisingly, the senior cashed in, giving the Tigers a lead by connecting on a wide-open three from the left corner with just 27 seconds to play.
“A mental breakdown… somehow we lost [Peters] at the worst possible time,” remarked head coach Bill Coen postgame. “To his credit, he made every open shot we gave him – he’s a terrific shooter.”
The Huskies weren’t done just yet, though. With 12 seconds remaining, junior guard LA Pratt drove to the basket, drawing a goaltending violation on Princeton’s Malik Abdullahi. The violation turned out to be something of a blessing in disguise for the Tigers, however; despite being out of timeouts, the video review that ensued after the call gave head coach Mitch Henderson an opportunity to draw up a play. Seven seconds later, that play paid off, as Abdullahi swished through a push shot off a feed from Lee to give Princeton a 77-76 lead with just five seconds on the clock.
Drawing up plays out of a timeout has never been Bill Coen’s forte – ask any Northeastern basketball fan – but if there was ever a time to dispel that notion, Sunday was it. After hustling the ball across halfcourt, the Huskies called timeout with two seconds remaining, giving them a half-court set with an opportunity to win the game.
What ensued was head-scratching. With two seconds on the clock, more than enough time for a catch-and-shoot opportunity, Coen elected to put the game in the hands of junior forward Collin Metcalf. King’s inbounds pass soared towards the rim, clearly intended as a lob for the big man, but the Tigers read it perfectly. Abdullahi leapt up to secure a pass that never had a chance, and while Northeastern fouled instantly, there was no Christian Laettner in the building Sunday night. One second and two Abdullahi free throws later, the final score read Princeton 79, Northeastern 76.
“It’s a physical game, especially at the end… we had [2] seconds, we thought we could get a clean look at the rim and maybe a foul,” Coen said in defense of the play. “It was physical on the back screen, maybe a bit of contact… we didn’t execute.”
While the Huskies avoided replicating last season’s patented scoring droughts, the other ghost of Northeastern past haunted them in Sunday’s defeat: turnovers. The home side notched 14 giveaways to Princeton’s seven, including a multitude of mindless flubs in the closing minutes, coughing up opportunity after opportunity to establish a stranglehold on the game. It was a disappointing result for a veteran group that’s been through it before, but far from an unfamiliar one.
Outside of that, though, there was a lot to like from Sunday. The game would’ve been vastly different without Harold Woods; the junior was incredible, recording career-highs in points (27) and rebounds (13) on a picturesque 13-of-18 from the floor. The junior was seemingly in the right place on every possession, almost single-handedly keeping Northeastern in the game for large swaths of the first half. He was fabulous defensively as well, holding reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Caden Pierce to just ten points on a pedestrian three-of-eight from the field.
“Just a monster effort,” Coen said. “He did a really good job [on Pierce]… he did a great job of getting behind the defense and scoring.”
Woods wasn’t the only one to set a high-water mark on the day either – Kermoury’s 20 points (17 in the second half) marked a career-high, as was Williams’s seven. King also joined the fun, notching a career-best 13 assists.
“It’s all that experience he’s gained here in those first two years,” said Coen of King. “He played very unselfishly… a big reason why we had a chance to win today.”
For Princeton, Davis carried the load, pouring in 25 points on a night where Lee and Pierce combined for just 22 on 7-of-25 from the floor. Peters was solid as well, notching 18 points on 6-of-8 from three, including the game’s biggest shot.
Northeastern was once again without the services of superstar guard Masai Troutman, who Coen said is still “week-to-week” postgame, but said that he was making “great progress.” Upon his return, he’ll almost certainly be a fixture in the starting lineup, and should add another dimension to an already impressive crop of guards.
The Huskies will be back in action Wednesday, playing host to another Ivy League opponent when the Harvard Crimson cross the Charles for a midweek tilt. Princeton, meanwhile, will look to continue their winning ways when fellow undefeated Loyola Chicago comes to town on Friday.
Catch Northeastern in action once again on Wednesday, with Matthews Arena the venue as the Huskies take on the Crimson. Max Schwartzberg and Aiden Barker will have the call, with tipoff slated for 7 p.m. on WRBB 104.9 FM.