By Mike Puzzanghera After a long but full season of CAA women’s basketball, the conference tournament tips off Thursday night from the Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia. With plenty of contenders and star players strewn throughout the bracket, here’s a look at each team competing for an NCAA Tournament bid this weekend. Drexel The top…
By Peyton Doyle I once had a Spanish teacher tell me that “poetry is what is lost in translation.” He believed that the beauty of words and ideas could not be truly translated across different languages. If there is one thing that I have learned this past season covering the Northeastern women’s basketball team, it…
By Milton Posner People fall in love with teams for different reasons. Sometimes it happens before you reach the age of awareness. By the time you can talk, you can recite the whole starting lineup, and by that point it’s so ingrained in your DNA that you can’t fathom a “before” time. You can’t fathom…
Story by Justin Diament and Milton Posner Photos by Jordan Baron HARRISONBURG, VA — “Whenever it ends, it ends.” “It’s like you’re on a treadmill, you’re running about ten miles an hour, and somebody hits the stop button. And everything stops. Your mind, the players’ rhythm, ‘what time is practice tomorrow’, ‘what are we doing’, ‘what…
Story by Justin Diament and Milton Posner Photos by Jordan Baron HARRISONBURG, VA — If you were paying attention, you could see the answers coming an hour in advance. After each of his team’s last three wins, plus a CAA press conference a month ago, Northeastern head coach Bill Coen fielded a question about his…
Photos by Sadie Parker Story by Milton Posner With their second double-digit scoring effort in as many days, Northeastern (2–2) notched an 11–2 win over UMass (0–1) Wednesday afternoon at Parsons Field. The Huskies scored in five of the first six frames, including nine runs across the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to put the…
By Peyton Doyle and Milton Posner TOWSON, MD — The coronation of Bill Coen as the winningest coach in Northeastern basketball history seemed almost inevitable entering Sunday. His team was 8–1 in conference play, with their only loss coming to second-place James Madison. Their opponent, the eighth-place Towson Tigers, had only two conference wins, both…
By Jordan Baron and Milton Posner The Northeastern Huskies have had some pretty crazy CAA win streaks. In 2012–13 they began conference play with eight wins and finished 14–4. In 2018, they marched to the CAA Championship game on the back of a nine-game streak. The next year, a string of seven victories lifted them…
Story by Justin Diament Photos by Sarah Olender BOSTON — It just wasn’t the Huskies’ day. As they watched James Madison dribble out the clock to complete a surprising 79–72 win, they also watched their seven-game winning streak, their longest in two years, end. The Dukes were led by junior guard Vado Morse, who contributed…
Story by Peyton Doyle and Milton Posner Photos by Jordan Baron BOSTON — Northeastern men’s basketball’s 72–63 win over James Madison on Saturday afternoon wasn’t exactly surprising. The Huskies were on an absolute roll coming in, and while the Dukes boasted a seemingly solid record, they hadn’t played much in the way of sturdy competition. But…
By Milton Posner If it wasn’t obvious by now, there’s some kind of magic in the air for Northeastern men’s basketball. In a season thrown into chaos by the unpredictability of a pandemic, with the youngest roster in the CAA, amid injuries that sidelined three big men simultaneously, and after being pummeled by high-major teams…
By Jordan Baron and Milton Posner Since their introduction to the Colonial Athletic Association in May of 2005, the Northeastern Huskies had started conference play 5–0 in only three seasons. Make that four. Behind quality performances from Jason Strong, Tyson Walker, Shaq Walters, and Chris Doherty, the Huskies did just that, securing their fifth straight…
By Jordan Baron and Milton Posner BOSTON — It’s not the greatest idea to wake a sleeping dragon. But during the second half Saturday afternoon, the Hofstra Pride did just that. Northeastern’s Tyson Walker had been a consistent if unremarkable presence all game, dropping eight points in a first half where the Huskies dominated on both…
By Milton Posner and Mike Puzzanghera HEMPSTEAD, NY — When Bill Coen led his team into the locker room at halftime Thursday evening, he was less than pleased with the state of affairs. The Huskies trailed the preseason favorite Hofstra Pride by 17. The four most prolific scorers in the game were all wearing blue,…
By Peyton Doyle and Milton Posner BOSTON — Northeastern men’s basketball entered Sunday afternoon’s rematch with Elon after demolishing the Phoenix the day before. A game that stayed close through halftime was decided by a furious 11–0 run to begin the second half. Sunday’s game was precisely the opposite. After opening a double-digit lead four minutes…
By Jordan Baron and Milton Posner BOSTON — It was hard to know what to expect heading into Saturday afternoon’s contest. The Elon Phoenix, courtesy of multiple cancellations, had missed scheduled games against perennial powerhouses Duke and North Carolina, and had parlayed the CAA’s weakest non-conference schedule into the best non-conference record. They were also…
By Milton Posner and Jack Sinclair MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — After the pandemic necessitated an abbreviated, last-minute non-conference slate, Bill Coen and his staff cobbled together the toughest schedule the team has had since Coen’s first year. Never was that more apparent than Sunday afternoon, when Northeastern fell to No. 9 West Virginia, 73–51. The…
By Andrew Lee and Milton Posner When Shaq Walters splashed home a long, difficult three-pointer with 17:53 left in the game, Northeastern men’s basketball fans had every reason to be jubilant. The team had tried 15 triples to that point, converting 10. And they led the undefeated Georgia Bulldogs by 14 points on the road.…
By Catherine Morrison and Milton Posner NORFOLK, VA — Northeastern came into Sunday’s game looking to even their record after a nail-biting loss to Syracuse on Wednesday. Instead, the Huskies suffered another close loss to a strong team, falling 66–62 to Old Dominion. The Monarchs (3–2) started strong, bolstering a moderate scoring pace with elite…
By Jordan Baron and Milton Posner On Wednesday afternoon, the Northeastern Huskies were a young, undersized team entering the jaws of a basketball shark. They drove west to Syracuse to battle a team coached by a man who’s won more games than many of us have watched, the same team that most recently polished off…
By Jordan Baron, Justin Diament, and Milton Posner BOSTON — In a fiery game that came down the wire, the Northeastern Huskies held off a frantic last-minute run from UMass to notch a 78–75 win, their first of the season. In Friday’s game, the crushing UMass press forced the Huskies into 15 first-half turnovers and…
Last season: 17–16 (9–9, sixth place CAA); lost to Hofstra in CAA Final Head coach: Bill Coen (15th season) Preseason Poll Projected Finish: Seventh Departures — ppg/rpg/apg (fg% / 3fg% / ft%) G Jordan Roland — 22/3/2 (48/39/88) G/F Bolden Brace — 11/7/2 (45/39/82) G/F Max Boursiquot — 9/5/1 (57/36/67) F Tomas Murphy — 9/3…
By Milton Posner Almost eight months to the day after Northeastern and Hofstra battled it out in the CAA Championship game, the conference released the results of its preseason poll. For the second straight year, the Pride took the top spot. The Huskies, who underperformed their third-place projection last year before hitting their stride in…
By Milton Posner The Colonial Athletic Association announced its 2020–21 schedules for men’s and women’s basketball on Wednesday morning. Teams will play 18 conference games across January and February, same as usual. But to limit travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, teams will play back-to-back games on Saturdays and Sundays against the same opponent in the…
By Milton Posner The NCAA’s Division I Council voted Wednesday to kick off the men’s and women’s college basketball seasons the day before Thanksgiving. According to Associate Athletic Director Scott MacDonald, Northeastern will finalize its schedules after the NCAA Board of Directors approves the council’s proposal on September 22. The Colonial Athletic Association, which houses…
By Milton Posner Not one week after a surprising, inspiring, rejuvenating run to the CAA Championship game, Northeastern men’s basketball found itself in trouble. Compounding the losses of CAA leading scorer Jordan Roland and versatile four-year starter Bolden Brace to graduation, three players — Max Boursiquot, Tomas Murphy, and Myles Franklin — announced their intent…
By Milton Posner WASHINGTON — Before the swarming zone defense, before the frantic scrambles for offensive rebounds, before the drives and the kickouts and the one-on-one brilliance, Tuesday night’s game was about vengeance. The Northeastern Huskies knew it better than anybody. Two years ago, after locking up a share of the CAA regular-season title, battling their…
Reminder: Northeastern faces Hofstra in the CAA Championship tonight at 7 PM. Michael Petillo, Matt Neiser, and Milton Posner will have the call from Washington D.C., with covering beginning around 15 minutes before tipoff. By Matt Neiser WASHINGTON — No. 6 seed vs. No. 7 seed in a ten-team tournament. It sounds like an early-round…
Reminder: Northeastern plays Elon in the semifinal of the CAA Tournament today at 8:30 PM EDT. Michael Petillo, Milton Posner, and Matt Neiser will call the game, with coverage beginning about 15 minutes before tipoff. By Milton Posner WASHINGTON — An atypical day for the CAA is, well, typical. Sunday’s schedule saw four quarterfinal games,…
Reminder: Northeastern plays Elon at 8:30 PM EDT on Monday in the semifinal of the CAA Tournament. Michael Petillo, Milton Posner, and Matt Neiser will be on the call from Washington D.C., with coverage beginning about 15 minutes before tipoff. By Milton Posner WASHINGTON — The calling card of Northeastern’s conference season was an infuriating…
By Milton Posner The CAA Tournament is a funny thing. Save for the top six teams receiving a first-round bye — which Northeastern has — there isn’t much advantage in being a one seed instead of a six seed. This is especially true this season, in which the league’s almost ludicrous parity limits the matchup…
By Milton Posner On December 17, Northeastern flew to Michigan for their last games before conference play. Though 6’9” sophomore forward Greg Eboigbodin was advertised before the trip — he played high school ball in Detroit — he sat out both games due to injury. With 6’8” junior forward Tomas Murphy also hurt, head coach…
By Milton Posner BOSTON — Playing the Towson Tigers is like fighting an actual tiger. They’re fierce, they’re territorial, and the longer you’re locked in with them the more fatigued you get. So if you’re the Northeastern Huskies, and you have an extra day to prep for a Sunday showdown with Pat Skerry’s squad, you…
By Michael Petillo BOSTON — The Northeastern Huskies defended home court on Thursday night, defeating James Madison 77–57 to secure a first-round bye in next week’s CAA tournament. Graduate transfer Guilien Smith led the Huskies with 20 points and Shaquille Walters dropped in 15 points to go along with six assists. Northeastern (15–14, 9–8 CAA)…
By Milton Posner Claustrophobics beware. With one week remaining in the CAA’s men’s basketball regular season, just four games separate third and eight place, and just two games separate third and sixth. The Northeastern Huskies sit in sixth place with an 8–8 record. There are four games on Thursday, four on Saturday, and one on…
By Milton Posner PHILADELPHIA — The last time Northeastern faced Drexel, the Huskies tore the Dragons up in every way imaginable. The Huskies nailed nine of their 17 tries from beyond the arc as their balanced attack carried them to a 85–52 victory. Northeastern played seven games between then and Saturday afternoon’s rematch with Drexel.…
By Milton Posner Those moments when you’re riding high, when you feel invincible, when you feel like you have all the momentum and confidence . . . those are the moments you’re most likely to be smashed over the head with a hefty sledgehammer. Such was the story of the Northeastern Huskies on Thursday night.…
By Milton Posner BOSTON — You’d be forgiven for thinking that disaster was in store. As they entered Matthews Arena on Saturday morning, the Northeastern Huskies had lost five of their last seven contests, each one featuring a blown second-half lead, faltering defense, and lackluster rebounding. Their Saturday afternoon opponent seemed perfectly primed to exploit…
By Michael Petillo BOSTON — Coming off a tough two-week stretch in which they lost four straight games, Northeastern returned to Matthews Arena on Thursday and picked up a much needed win, defeating UNCW 71–63. The Huskies held the Seahawks to just 24 first half points and Jordan Roland poured in 27 on the night…
By Matt Neiser HEMPSTEAD, NY — The Northeastern men’s basketball team came into Saturday afternoon’s game against Hofstra on a three-game losing streak, desperate for a win as William & Mary, Charleston, and Hofstra have begun to separate themselves at the top of the CAA. Looking for revenge after Eli Pemberton’s last-second game-winner in their…
By Milton Posner and Adam Doucette ELON, North Carolina — The last name the Northeastern Huskies visited the Elon Phoenix, dominant overtime play gave the Huskies an 11-point win and moved them to 2–2 in CAA play. That was January 10, 2019. It was also the last time the Huskies would possess a losing conference…
By Milton Posner WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia — The green-and-gold-clad players leapt joyfully on the sidelines. The similarly dressed fans erupted into deafening cheers. And the scoreboard, for the final time on a frantic Thursday evening, changed its mind. But Northeastern fans who were paying attention — and perhaps even a few who weren’t — would have…
By Milton Posner If you took a shot every time a CAA coach, player, or commentator said the word “parity,” you’d probably wake up the next morning with a raging hangover, an empty wallet, a lower-back butterfly tattoo, and no clue how you wound up two cities over. It’s entirely justified. The Hofstra Pride, last…
By Milton Posner BOSTON — At the close of CAA action on Saturday, the Northeastern Huskies’ average margin of victory in conference play rested at 7.7 points, nearly three points better than the next-best team. And yet they sat tied for fifth, owners of a 5–4 conference record, an anomaly possible only because each one…
By Michael Petillo BOSTON — Coming off a disappointing overtime loss to UNCW on Saturday, Northeastern returned to Matthews Arena Thursday night badly needing a bounce-back win. They got it against Drexel, soundly defeating the Dragons 85–52 in a game that was never in doubt. Jordan Roland led the scoring charge for the Huskies as…
By Matt Neiser WILMINGTON, North Carolina — Fresh off a 15-point comeback win over CAA heavyweight Charleston, the Northeastern men’s basketball team was riding high as it made its way to Wilmington for a Saturday night matchup against the winless-in-conference UNCW Seahawks. The Seahawks pulled the Huskies back down to earth in Trask Coliseum, however,…
By Michael Petillo CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Coming off a pair of heartbreaking, buzzer-beating home defeats to William & Mary and Hofstra, the Northeastern Huskies marched into TD Arena Thursday night badly in need of a win. Against Grant Riller and the second-place College of Charleston Cougars, snapping that two-game skid would be no small…
By Milton Posner Thursday night’s ending was a test of just how much déjà vu the college basketball gods can cram into one play. Just like Saturday, Northeastern faced a top-tier CAA opponent at Matthews Arena. Once again, the Huskies overcame first-half struggles, closed the deficit with hot second-half shooting, and tied the score in…
By Matt Neiser BOSTON — Entering Saturday’s games, three CAA men’s basketball teams boasted undefeated records. Two of those teams, Northeastern and Charleston, were of no surprise to most CAA followers. But you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who predicted the third team would be where they are. The William & Mary Tribe, with long-time…
By Milton Posner BOSTON — On December 31, 13 hours before the clock hit midnight and the year reset, Tyson Walker was named CAA Rookie of the Week for the third time this season; no other player has won it more than once. The main reason the league cited was his scoring; Walker notched a…
By Milton Posner For a few games, it appeared as though Jordan Roland had settled down. His scoring average dropped from the national top-five toward slightly more reasonable territory, and he was shooting just 30 percent in the team’s last three games. But he couldn’t lie dormant forever, and on Monday evening he woke up,…
By Milton Posner For years now, anyone who has strolled into SECU Arena to face Pat Skerry’s Towson Tigers has known exactly what they’re up against. The Tigers are tough, scrappy, and energetic on defense, and every point scored against them is a point well-earned. They lived up to that reputation in non-conference play this…
By Milton Posner With the CAA’s conference slate beginning today, WRBB examined the non-conference performances of all 10 CAA teams and ranked them from worst to best. The rankings are based on each team’s record and strength of schedule, with occasional deviations if a deep dive into a team’s schedule, margins of victory, or statistics…
By Milton Posner A matchup between Northeastern and Detroit Mercy a week before Christmas wouldn’t normally stir much national attention. But Thursday evening’s contest had a nationally relevant storyline running right through its heart. On the Northeastern side was Jordan Roland, the nation’s fourth-leading scorer at 23.8 points per game. On the Detroit side was…
By Milton Posner Anyone who glanced at a pre-game matchup sheet could hazard a guess at how Tuesday evening’s game would go. Northeastern, which entered the game fifth in the nation in three-point percentage, would rely on outside shooting. Eastern Michigan, which entered ranked ninth in the nation in scoring defense, would use their height…
By Milton Posner Many of Northeastern’s wins this season have resulted from a wave of improbable Jordan Roland shots. The senior guard has shown out this season, his long-distance bombs guiding the Husky offense. On Saturday afternoon, a squad hailing from Roland’s old conference arrived at Matthews Arena to battle the Huskies. Roland stood a…
By Michael Petillo Jordan Roland tallied 28 points and the Northeastern Huskies defended home court against the Maine Black Bears, winning 78–63 on Wednesday night. Roland notched his 1,000th career point while leading the Huskies to their second consecutive win. Northeastern (5–4) started slowly, committing turnovers on each of their first three possessions before a…
By Milton Posner As Northeastern took the court against Weber State Wednesday morning, they were fresh off a close defeat at Drake’s hands, a defeat caused in part by 19 Northeastern turnovers and the resulting disparity in shot attempts. For the second day in a row, Northeastern give the ball away 19 times. But this…
By Milton Posner As the game clock steadily ticked off its final seconds, Jason Strong took charge. He took the ball out top, put his head down, and drove down the right side of the lane. He tossed the ball with a gentle hooking motion, and his layup settled neatly into the basket with 0.6…
By Milton Posner As Boston trudges inexorably toward winter, as the days end earlier, the winds blow harder, and the temperatures drop, the Northeastern Huskies migrated south, if only for a few days. They flew to Fort Myers, Florida for the Gulf Coast Showcase, an annual eight-team tournament. The Huskies’ three-day, three-game slate is, according…
By Milton Posner WORCESTER, MA — From 1096 to 1271, the Roman Catholic Church waged a series of wars against Muslim powers in the eastern Mediterranean. Though the Crusades arguably increased Christianity’s reach, the Church’s wealth, and the Pope’s power, the Crusaders repeatedly failed in their main goal of retaking the Holy Land. On Tuesday…
By Michael Petillo Old Dominion used strong rebounding and defense to knock off Northeastern Saturday afternoon by a score of 76–69. ODU outrebounded the Huskies 36–26 — including a 14–6 margin on the offensive glass and an 11–3 second-chance points advantage — and pulled away during the last few minutes of what was, for the…
By Milton Posner For the first time this season, Jordan Roland — whose 81 points through two games had garnered himself and his team national recognition — did not log an otherworldly performance. For the first time this season, Northeastern played the balanced offensive game last year’s team did so well. And for the first time…
By Michael Petillo On Tuesday night against BU, Northeastern senior guard Jordan Roland scored 39 points, just shy of the school record of 41 held by Husky legends J.J. Barea and Reggie Lewis. Northeastern needed every one of those points, as they edged BU out in the closing seconds. Tonight, the Harvard Crimson, a team…
By Milton Posner When the 2019–20 season ends and the CAA releases its all-conference teams, it’s entirely possible that Jordan Roland’s left hand will make the first team. Roland is right-handed, not that you could tell from watching Tuesday night’s game. The 6’1” senior guard, who usually feasts on a steady diet of long-distance bombs,…
Last season: 23–11 (14–4 CAA, second place), won CAA Tournament, lost in first round of NCAA Tournament Head Coach: Bill Coen (14th season) CAA Preseason Poll Finish: Third Losses G Vasa Pusica G Donnell Gresham Jr. G/F Shawn Occeus F/C Jeremy Miller C Anthony Green Additions G Vito Cubrilo G Tyson Walker G Guilien Smith…
By Milton Posner Ahh, the CAA Preseason Poll. That wonderful time of year when the conference’s coaches, media relations directors, and media members (including a few from your favorite Northeastern student radio station) gaze deep into their crystal balls and relay the results of the upcoming season. The results of this annual divination ritual, released…
