BOSTON — When the sun rose on Saturday morning, there was a really good feeling in and around Northeastern basketball.
Hours later, in the wake of one of the poorest offensive performances in program history, that feeling has dissipated somewhat. Saturday’s game didn’t erase the objectively good start the Huskies have had to this campaign, but it did feel like a massive step backwards after Thursday’s rousing win over Delaware.
This one started with some promise; despite missing star guards William Kermoury, Masai Troutman, and LA Pratt (for a half, more on that later) the home side were narrow favorites against a Hofstra team coming off a befuddling blowout home loss to William & Mary. Even while missing a band or cheerleading team both still on winter break, the home crowd felt lively and full pregame, ready to put their weight behind a Northeastern team which had certainly earned it so far.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, you could hear a pin drop in an eerily silent Matthews Arena. It wasn’t a sudden blow – Saturday’s loss was more death by a thousand cuts than it was a knockout punch – but the 55-37 final hurt all the same.
The Huskies expected to struggle somewhat offensively without Troutman, Kermoury, and Pratt. And struggle they did, managing just 19 points in the first half. They just simply couldn’t get going, shooting just 22% in the period; a minor flurry from Rashad King and a strong offensive rebounding performance by Youri Fritz and Harold Woods were the only things keeping Northeastern afloat. NU shot just 1-of-11 from beyond the arc, a pitiful 4-of-9 from the free throw stripe, and committed six turnovers in one of the ugliest halves in recent memory.
It was a minor miracle, then, that the Huskies somehow entered halftime with the lead. For all of Northeastern’s offensive incompetence, their defense came to play, holding the Pride to just 18 points in the half. Hofstra committed 13 turnovers in the frame, including four by sophomore guard Jean Aranguren, but shot better from the field (albeit still poorly) and made two threes to keep their own heads above water.
It was a truly dreadful half; 19-18 felt more like a football score than it did basketball, and neither coach appeared thrilled at the intermission. Nonetheless, Northeastern had clawed their way to yet another halftime lead, and the game certainly remained there for the taking.
NU’s prospects were only improved by the sight of LA Pratt exiting the tunnel to begin the second half; the guard missed the first half with illness, but was apparently healthy enough to return for the second half, ideally injecting a dormant Husky offense with some much-needed scoring and playmaking.
Instead, it was more of the same. Pratt’s mid-game appearance cost Northeastern a technical, allowing the Pride to knot the game before the second half even got underway; from there, it would be all downhill. Hofstra’s Michael Graham put home a layup to spark a four-minute, 7-0 run, and by the time JB Frankel connected on a three, the Pride lead was 25-22. Sloppy play from the Huskies enabled Hofstra to push the lead even further, opening up a 32-25 cushion before Harold Woods spurred a 5-0 stretch to get Northeastern back within two with 8:54 remaining.
Hofstra’s offense wasn’t going to stay asleep forever, though. Aranguren embarked on a personal 6-0 spurt, and after King responded with a three, Hofstra’s Cruz Davis poured in five consecutive of his own to give the Pride a 43-33 lead with 6:24 to play. From there, the Huskies simply couldn’t break through, missing shot after shot while the clock dwindled and the margin grew ever-larger. When the clock’s expiry mercifully brought this one to a close, the final score read Hofstra 55, Northeastern 37.
37 points marked the fewest Northeastern had scored in a game since November 29, 2008, when they fell 55-37 to South Florida. The mark is tied for the second-fewest in shot-clock era school history, bested only by a 34 point performance against Old Dominion in 2011. Long story short, Saturday’s game will find itself in the school record books but not for the reasons this roster would’ve liked.
Bright spots were few and far between; only King managed double figures, with 16 points. Youri Fritz and Harold Woods added seven each, and no Husky managed to shoot even 50% from the floor en route to a strikingly low 13-of-61 showing as a team. To make matters worse, the home side shot 8-of-15 from the charity stripe and committed 14 turnovers – further crippling an already inefficient offense – and have shown little in the way of improving either number as the season has gone along.
Hofstra got 22 points from Cruz and 14 from Aranguren; the Pride had their own struggles, though, shooting just 17-of-41 from the floor alongside 16 turnovers. However, they turned it on to pull away in the second half, connecting on nearly 50% of their field goals, shooting 12-of-14 from the line, and limiting turnovers to three.
“We just didn’t fire on any level today,” said Coen. “Just a rough afternoon for us, obviously missing some guys, but I thought Hofstra did enough things to earn the victory.”
There may have been more than meets the eye to Northeastern’s shorthandedness; in addition to missing Kermoury and Troutman to injury, Coen mentioned a bug running through the team, including LA Pratt, who missed the first half. How much that bug impacted the rest of the team is unclear, but whether it be fatigue, illness, or simply a bad day at the office, the Huskies certainly moved a step slow all night.
Elsewhere, there was no update on the returns of Kermoury and Troutman; Troutman was in a walking boot, but appeared in good spirits. Alex Nwagha left the game with a shoulder injury midway through the second half, but appeared to have full mobility and stayed on the bench until the horn sounded.
Northeastern will certainly hope to get some positive injury news, and fast: the Huskies’ next four games are all on the road, and all profile as daunting matchups. If they don’t right the ship, and do so quickly, they could very well be looking up from the wrong end of the CAA standings before returning home to take on Drexel on January 23rd.
But, that’s neither here nor there, and there’s no reason to panic. All indications are this was a blip – and until proven otherwise, it’d be wise to keep the faith.
Northeastern will return to action Thursday night at Towson. WRBB will have written and Twitter coverage, with the telecast on FloSports.