Northeastern started off slowly and never recovered, digging themselves a massive first-half hole that they just couldn’t climb out of as Holy Cross defended home court in a 76-59 victory.
With freshman guard Miles Newton out nursing an ankle injury, fellow rookie Xavier Abreu stepped into the starting lineup after three consecutive double-digit scoring performances. Graduate student forward Haris Elezovic joined Newton on the injured list, alongside superstar guard LA Pratt, who will of course miss the remainder of the season.
Injuries or not, there was an air of malaise over Northeastern. A 9-7 lead less than five minutes into the game would be the Huskies’ last advantage of the night, as the Crusaders went on a 9-0 run to open up a seven-point lead.
The visitors got within three moments later as freshman forward Ty Francis skied in with a layup for his first career points, but the margin would be short-lived. Junior guard Mike Loughnane broke a long shooting slump with two threes in as many minutes, but nobody else picked up the slack for the red-and-black on either side of the ball. Northeastern looked powerless to stop the Crusaders, giving way to a prolonged 19-5 stretch keyed by sophomore guard Tyler Boston.
To make matters worse, senior forward Youri Fritz went down with an injury shortly before the end of the first half. Northeastern’s leading scorer appeared to roll his ankle fighting for a rebound, and he wouldn’t return for the remainder of the contest.
The second half didn’t even need to be played, really. Down four of their better players, the Huskies came out flat again, never really threatening Holy Cross. By the six-minute mark, the lead had ballooned to 26, a truly embarrassing figure for a Northeastern team that came in as eight-point favorites.
Mercifully, the Crusaders didn’t score over the final six-plus minutes. A 9-0 run — really more of a crawl — by Northeastern made this one look a little prettier, but that’s about it. When the buzzer sounded, there was nothing left for the Huskies to do but get on the bus back to Boston, licking their wounds.
For some context, Holy Cross entered Wednesday’s matchup 335th out of 365 in KenPom, making them the Huskies’ worst non-conference loss since KenPom was created in 1997. Northeastern hadn’t lost to the Crusaders since 2008.
That’s… not great.
Northeastern will return to action on Sunday when they host Central Connecticut State. Jacob Phillips, Jordan Walsh, and Emma Shkurti will have your call, with tip set for 1 p.m.
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.