WASHINGTON, D.C. – Well, it’s over.
No lengthy soliloquy necessary.
Northeastern’s season didn’t end with a whimper; in fact, the Huskies outplayed their seed in a thrashing of NC A&T yesterday afternoon before rebounding from a grisly first half to make things competitive against Drexel in round two. But, as has been the case all season, when it came time to go and actually win the game, a shorthanded, inexperienced, and ultimately deeply flawed Huskies roster just couldn’t get over that final hump.
So, for the fifth time in as many years, Bill Coen’s Huskies are headed home before making it out of the first round. (Or second round. Depends if you count the bottom seed play-in game as a round or not.)
It wasn’t like this outcome was unexpected. Northeastern, with the midseason closing of Matthews Arena already stacking the deck against them, drew three more low cards when stars LA Pratt, Xander Alarie, and Miles Newton suffered season-ending injuries before the turn of the calendar. Opening day starter Youri Fritz missed several weeks. Freshman standout Ty Francis oscillated in and out of the lineup. Sharpshooter Will Kermoury missed a handful of games.
On Saturday, though, Northeastern was as healthy as they could ask to be. Every player who hadn’t suffered a season-ender was dressed and ready. The Huskies were coming off one of their best, most comprehensive wins of the season in a play-in romp over the Aggies. Buzz around people close to the team was that the Drexel game, should they continue their play from Friday, was a winnable one.
And then, in a blink, it wasn’t. The Dragons came out and throttled the life out of Northeastern, utilizing their top-ranked defense to suffocate the Huskies early and open on a 13-4 run punctuated by a pair of threes from senior forward Victor Panov. The Huskies couldn’t find any answers to a swarming Drexel defense that asked question after question, and another pair of threes by Panov and sophomore forward Dillon Tingler minutes later stretched the lead to 19 at 31-12.
Huskies guard Mike Loughnane spurred a mini 5-0 run to get back towards treading water, but — stop me if you’ve read this before — a Drexel response capped off by a Panov three pushed the lead to as large as 22 with two minutes remaining in the half. Another mini 5-0 spurt by Northeastern brought the deficit to 39-22 at the intermission, but it felt like a mere jab in the face of haymaker after haymaker.
Not much moved in either direction immediately after the break. The lead fluctuated between 14 and 20 for the first 10-plus minutes of the period before a 12-2 Northeastern run, mostly due to a newly-implemented full-court press. Drexel, who thrives on playing at a snail’s pace, was suddenly forced into quick, decisive action, and the Dragons’ comfortable lead was now just 59-50 with 6:46 remaining.
Northeastern made it even closer, whittling the lead to as little as six, but every time there was a chance to really put pressure on Drexel, a missed shot or ill-timed foul plagued the Huskies. Whether it was a wide-open missed three by freshman guard Xavier Abreu, an ill-timed foul by Loughnane, or some other error, the Huskies couldn’t get it close enough to capitalize. Northeastern pulled within four with less than 30 seconds to go, but Drexel’s Eli Beard held his nerve, making free throw after free throw to keep pushing destiny further and further from the Huskies’ reach.
By the time Beard finished his free throw barrage — the senior guard went 13-of-15 from the charity stripe, with the majority coming in the closing moments — the door was all but closed on the Huskies. Sophomore guard Ryan Williams scored the final points of Northeastern’s season (a layup to cut the deficit to five) before Drexel’s Dillon Tingler officially bade the Huskies farewell with two free throws that gave the Dragons an unassailable 84-77 lead with five seconds on the clock.
Just like that, time had run out on the Northeastern Huskies.
“I was proud of our team in the second half,” said Northeastern head coach Bill Coen. “The group that finished the game… played to exhaustion and did everything they could to narrow the gap. But, you know, Drexel was the better team today.”
The first half was nothing short of a nightmare for the Huskies, who got blitzed by a physical, hot-shooting Drexel team. The Dragons shot a whopping 8-of-12 from deep in the frame, and rained in threes of all shapes and colors from all areas of the court. Panov led the way, shooting 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in the period. It’s been a season of marked improvement from deep for the senior, who raised his three-point percentage from 25% a season ago to 35% this year.
“I feel the biggest adjustment was mental,” said Panov of his three-point development. “I don’t care if it goes in. I just shoot and live with the result. It’s working great.”
In a bright spot for Northeastern, Mike Loughnane had his second superb performance in as many games. He led the Huskies both on the court and emotionally, serving as that veteran presence that’d been lacking (outside of forward Youri Fritz) since Pratt’s injury in November. Loughnane had a career-high 29 points on an uber-efficient 8-of-10 from the field and 10-of-10 from the free-throw line, along with six assists and three rebounds without taking a single breather. Loughnane kept the Huskies attached in the late-game, making foul shot after foul shot to stay afloat.
“In those types of situations, it’s always good to score,” said Loughnane. “It helps us come back, that a couple guys were able to get to the free-throw line and knock it down. Luca [Soroa Schaller] hit a few, Xavier [Abreu] hit a few. Definitely helped us pull it closer.”
He wasn’t the only contributor for Northeastern. Freshman center Liam Koelsch had a career-high 14, and made a number of energy plays to earn extra possessions for the Huskies. Abreu came alive in the second to finish with 13, and Soroa Schaller made some key defensive plays down the stretch to give his side a chance.
“You can count on Liam [Koelsch] to get physical,” Coen said. “He plays physical… I thought he really ignited our comeback attempt with his physicality, his play on the offensive glass, and his aggressiveness.”
While Northeastern bowing out of the CAA Tournament before Championship Tuesday was somewhat of a foregone conclusion, the future of head coach Bill Coen is not. Northeastern’s win on Friday earned Coen a record-setting 200th CAA victory, and after 20 years of tenure at Northeastern, questions have certainly been floated over his desire to keep coaching.
“We all know that someday it’s going to come to an end,” Coen reflected postgame. “But, when you’re in the middle of it, I don’t think there’s any thought about that… I’ve been so fortunate throughout my career to be at a great institution, work for great people, and do what I love to do, and that’s to be around young men like Mike [Loughnane] and the rest of the guys in the locker room.
“Not all jobs are equal. When you look at what Northeastern offers to our student-athletes, the ability to change their lives and shape their lives and make long-lasting relationships… I feel honored and privileged to be working in such a great place for this long.”
What comes next for Coen and for his roster — these days, nobody is guaranteed to stay anywhere — is unknown. But, for now, as Coen puts it, the end to the season is like “being on a treadmill, and somebody hits the stop button.”
Is it a stop button that came too early? Perhaps. Was Northeastern’s treadmill perhaps slanted more uphill than they would’ve hoped? Certainly. Does it end their season all the same? Yes.
Back in Boston, they’ll take a day or two off. Then it’s right back to it: recruitment, summer ball, and doing everything in their power to be the last runner on the CAA treadmill next March. Just keep running.
Thank you for following along with WRBB’s coverage of Northeastern men’s basketball this season. WRBB will have offseason coverage in written and podcast form.
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.