The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Despite a long offseason, a radically different roster, and a Matthews Arena crowd that was as loud as I’d ever heard it, the Huskies’ season opener felt oh-so-familiar. They had the lead, gave it up, rallied, and had every chance to win a rivalry tilt with the neighboring Boston University Terriers, but in the end, shot themselves in the foot one too many times to pull out the victory.
It wasn’t all self-inflicted. BU’s Sam Hughes, who played his high school basketball 4.6 miles away from Matthews at Dexter Southfield in Brookline, notched a team-high 21 points in his collegiate debut. The freshman forward made five of BU’s six threes and the two biggest free throws of the night, proving to be a thorn in the Huskies’ side all evening long.
As Bill Coen likes to do in the season opener, nearly everybody got some run for Northeastern, who started two freshmen in guard Miles Newton and forward Xander Alarie. Newton actually got the scoring underway, notching his first two collegiate points after laying home following a soaring offensive rebound. Moments later, senior forward Youri Fritz made the first three-pointer of his four-year NCAA career, splashing one home in a late shot-clock setting to put the Huskies up 5-0.
The lead grew to 9-2 after a three from junior guard William Kermoury and a free throw from Fritz. The margin would hold anywhere between seven and 10 for the next dozen minutes. Senior guard LA Pratt led the way for Northeastern, turning steals into fast-break points seemingly at will.
BU bounced back, though, mostly by slowing down the pace and forcing the Huskies to play half-court offense. An 8-0 run made the score 25-23 with 5:43 left in the half, but some quality free-throw shooting (including a two-for-two by freshman giant Petar Pinter) restored Northeastern’s lead to five.
Here came the Huskies’ first notable gaffe of the evening. With the chance to push the lead before halftime, Pratt missed an ill-advised jumper, before a defensive breakdown left Hughes (who’d already made two threes in the half) wide open for three. Moments later, Alarie missed the front end of a one-and-one; on Northeastern’s next possession, it was Fritz’s turn to miss free throws, as he rolled a pair off the rim. Up 31-29 with 21 seconds in the stanza, the Huskies’ defense faltered again, completely losing Hughes again for a buzzer-beating three that gave BU the halftime lead at 32-31.
A Kermoury triple handed the lead back to Northeastern early in the second half, although they’d relinquish it following a 6-0 Terrier run that came as a direct result of three consecutive Husky turnovers. From there, BU took brief control, although they couldn’t stretch the lead further than five. With 4:12 left, the pendulum swung back the other way, as two Pratt free throws put Northeastern back on top by one.
With a touch under 90 seconds remaining, and his Huskies leading 64-63, junior guard JB Frankel stole the ball from BU’s freshman guard Chance Gladden. Frankel went end-to-end and laid it in, giving Northeastern a three-point lead. NU had a chance to put it beyond reach, but Fritz’s steal attempt became a jump ball that went BU’s way. Seconds later, a nonsensical foul by Pratt sent the Terriers’ sophomore seven-footer Ben Defty to the line, where he made one of two to cut the deficit to two.
With the clock now at 40 seconds, Northeastern had a two-point lead and possession. They couldn’t execute, though, as Fritz’s errant pass went out of bounds for a turnover at the 20-second mark. All of a sudden, it was BU with a chance to tie or close out the game as every corner of Matthews Arena rose to its feet.
Stingy Northeastern defense jolted the Terriers out of their set, leading to a disjointed play. With five seconds left, and the ball on the right wing, the pill found Hughes, who uncorked a long two-point jumper.
The shot was never going in; it was off-balance and heavily contested. And it didn’t, falling harmlessly off the side. Fortunately for the away side, Alarie was just a bit too over-eager to make a play, leaping into Hughes as he followed through. The whistle went, Alarie put his hands on his head, and Hughes was two free throws away from tying the game with 3.4 seconds remaining.
As he did all night, Hughes stepped up. Neither of the freshman’s freebies even touched the rim, splashing through to knot the game at 66. After a timeout, Pratt sprinted up the floor, but his corner three came off the junior’s fingertips well after the buzzer.
BU took control of overtime quickly, using an 8-2 run to take an iron grip on the game. Six of those eight came from Defty, who fouled out Fritz in the process. It wasn’t over, though: with 45 seconds remaining, Pratt sunk two free throws, before a Frankel steal led to Pratt’s first three of the night to cut it to 76-75 with 41 seconds on the clock.
Junior guard Michael McNair missed a three for BU, and with 15 seconds remaining, the Huskies had a chance to pull a rabbit out of their collective hats. With no timeouts, Pratt raced up the floor. BU knocked it out of bounds with 2.6 left, and the game came down to Bill Coen’s best inbounds play.
The play went nowhere. The inbound went into the corner, where a double-teamed Pratt forced up a fading, contested three. It missed — really, it never even looked like it was going in — and time expired. BU 76, Northeastern 75.
“Just another Northeastern-BU classic,” said Coen postgame. “I thought the effort was there, the execution needs to improve… You got to tip your hat, that’s [Sam Hughes’s] first college game, and he played a huge role in the victory.”
Even in a rivalry, early-season games are feelers, and Coen certainly treated this one as such. Twelve different Huskies played at least five minutes, including five freshmen, and the offense ran through different players throughout the night. Pratt led all Huskies with 26 points, and Fritz and Kermoury had 15 and 14, respectively, while Newton added eight.
“He’s a gamer,” said Coen of Pratt. “He tweaked something, had to exit the game, but came back in and almost willed us to victory.”
Pratt’s performance was recognized by friends and foes alike, even in a losing effort.
“LA Pratt is a terrific player,” BU head coach Joe Jones said. “We could not guard him in the second half… he gets to his right hand, he’s torture.”
After star guard Kyrone Alexander exited with an injury after just 11:31 of game time, BU got even scoring, as seven players scored at least five points. Defty had 20, just behind Hughes, who notched 21. Defty also chipped in five blocks and three steals, wreaking havoc on Northeastern’s offense.
With Matthews Arena slated for closing in December, Monday’s game marked the last time these two storied rivals will battle it out at the historic venue. The series, which now sits at 77-76 all-time, will continue, but it’ll no doubt miss the old barn.
“They’ve gotten the best of us,” said Jones. “You know, it’s been a couple of years. I actually watched [that game tape]. I wanted to see what it looked like the last time we did beat them… It’s about time we got one.”
Northeastern will return to action against Colgate on Friday. WRBB will have written coverage of the away game, with tip-off set for 5 pm.
Jacob Phillips is the Sports Director for WRBB Sports. He’s been covering Northeastern athletics for over two years, focusing primarily on men’s basketball. Follow him on Twitter here and Instagram here. He also writes for Mid-Major Madness, and you can find his work here.