Cruising Huskies headed in the right direction
With each Colonial Athletic Association victory, the expectations seem to grow for Northeastern's men's basketball team. Maybe the Huskies are indeed capable of going down to Richmond next month and winning the CAA tournament, securing a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
At this point, who's going to argue?
Yesterday, before a Matthews Arena crowd of 2,194, Northeastern played like the conference's first-place team by posting a convincing 73-59 victory over Delaware. Matt Janning led the way with 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting (4 of 7 from beyond the arc) while Manny Adako chipped in 17 points and 6 rebounds for the Huskies (15-6, 10-1).
"We knew coming into all these games that we were going to have a target on our back that kept getting bigger," Janning said. "So we just have to keep getting more wins."
When Delaware coach Monte Ross was asked afterward, "Is Northeastern a team that can win the conference?" he was not about to offer any rebuttal, especially after his team lost to the Huskies for the second time this season following a 67-47 setback Jan. 15.
"They're good, absolutely," Ross said. "They're not only a team that can win it, I would say - now I'm not going to put any pressure on [NU coach] Billy [Coen] - but they should win."
Following a 68-63 victory Tuesday at Virginia Commonwealth, which had been tied for first, Northeastern completed a 9-1 month, marking its best January since going 11-0 in 1987. So how did the Huskies enjoy the view from their perch?
"It's like anything else," said Coen, whose team won for the 12th time in 14 games and expanded its winning streak against Delaware to nine. "It's just another game for us in a league where we're going to be challenged.
"I felt like we started off fairly slow and opened the game with some poor execution and, really, a lack of defensive intensity, which was a little uncharacteristic for us. But we were able to regain our balance and settle into our style of play."
Northeastern battled Delaware (9-14, 3-8) through five lead changes and three ties in the early going before the Huskies, who converted a season-high 11 3-pointers on 24 attempts, took the lead for good when Matt Smith (9 points) sandwiched a pair of trifectas around an Adako jump hook to make it 24-20 with 5:03 remaining before intermission.
Janning gave the Huskies their first double-digit lead (30-20) when he converted a Chris Alvarez steal into a foul-inducing, off-balance, one-handed floater. The circus shot found its mark from behind the backboard when Janning let it fly as he was shoved out of bounds by Delaware's Alphonso Dawson.
After NU controlled a 32-22 lead at intermission, Janning and Chaisson Allen (12 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) heated up from the arc and scored 6 points apiece during a 12-0 run that gave the Huskies a 51-31 lead with 13:21 left.
Janning matched his highlight-reel shot from the first half when he took a transition feed from Allen and ignited the crowd with a ferocious tomahawk dunk that gave the Huskies a 66-45 lead with 5:29 left. So which gave him the most pleasure: the one-handed floater or the dunk?
"I'd say the dunk," Janning said with a sheepish smile. "We needed something to get the crowd going and that was it. The crowd got into it and I felt like it put a little pep in our step after that."
Who knows? It might take the Huskies to Richmond and beyond.
Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.
