By Kyle Kandetzki – Assistant Sports Editor
The Hofstra Pride men’s basketball team passed their first major test in CAA play by easily defeating the Elon Phoenix, but their next matchup raises the stakes a lot more. Hofstra sits atop the CAA with a perfect 4-0 record, but up next they have another road game against the Northeastern University Huskies. The Huskies were picked as the CAA favorites this season, and a win should place the Pride in the position of favorites in the conference.
THE BASIC INFORMATION: Northeastern University is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and is home to a large 20,000+ student body. Northeastern sports red and black jerseys, and have been a member of the CAA since 2005.
HISTORY: Northeastern came over to the Colonial after being a founding member of the America East Conference. The Huskies made all of their NCAA Tournament appearances from 1981-1991, making it seven times. They were able to reach the second round three times, but got no further than that. Five of their seven appearances came under head coach Jim Calhoun, who won three National Championships with another team named the Huskies.
LAST YEAR: Northeastern placed in the middle of the CAA by taking 5th spot. The Huskies went 7-9 in conference, while struggling out-of-conference to a 10-20 overall record. Northeastern reached the semifinals of the CAA Tournament by defeating Drexel, but would lose to the eventual CAA Champions, Delaware.
THIS YEAR: Northeastern’s rise from a fifth place team to a preseason number one came from their returning talent as nearly every top player is back in ’14-15. The only exception is guard Demetrius Pollard (4th leading scorer, 8.9 PPG), who left the program in October.
The Huskies gave themselves a fairly difficult non-conference slate, and emerged with impressive wins, but big losses as well. They topped the ACC’s Florida State (138th RPI) by three, limited the Patriots League’s Navy to 44 points in an easy win, and squeaked out a one-point win vs. Richmond (94th in RPI). On the other side, they were obliterated by 25 against UMass (48th in RPI), scored just 46 against Harvard, and were downed in overtime by Saint Mary’s. All three, though, are programs expected to make an appearance in this year’s tourney, so the losses should be taken with a grain of salt. Their worst loss came to Cal Poly by two in mid-December.
In the CAA, Northeastern is 3-1, with a 19-point winner over UDel, six-point win over JMU, and a low scoring 52-49 victory against Towson. Their lone loss comes in their only home CAA game so far, against UNC-W. The game could be seen as an upset, but Wilmington also sits at 3-1 in the CAA. In the loss, the Huskies allowed three Seahawks to score 18+ points.
Northeastern’s overall record is 11-5.
THE COACH: In his ninth season in Boston is Bill Coen. This is Coen’s first head coaching job, as he was an assistant at Rhode Island and Boston College before being hired in 2006. Coen has brought teams to two NIT apperances.
CURRENT ROSTER: Preseason All-CAA first team forward Scott Eatherton leads the team, and the senior is the scariest big man in the conference. At 6’8” 220, Eatherton is a huge threat scoring-wise (15.4 PPG), as well as on the boards (7.6 RPG, 4th in the CAA). Not only does Eatherton score often, he does it extremely efficiently at 60% from the field. If you believe in momentum, then there is extra reason to worry: Eatherton is coming off of a 21-point performance where he did not miss any of his ten shots.
Returning in 2014-15 to bolster the Huskies frontcourt is Quincy Ford, another 6’8” 220 big man, who doubles as a guard. Ford sat out most of last season after having back surgery, but has returned to compliment Eatherton with 10.6 PPG and 5.9 RPG. The difference between both is Ford’s efficiency. Ford averages 38% from the field, and is very streaky. He has good nights like a 7-for-14 performance vs. Florida State, but he also has poor stat lines like a 0-for-9 against Harvard or 3-for-12 in his last game vs. Towson.
It is uncommon for mid-majors to have a set of forwards that outshine their guards, but that is not to say the Huskies have a weak backcourt. The top guard is junior David Walker, who is actually 6’6”, continuing the trend of height on this team. Walker rounds out the trio of players averaging double figures in scoring with 10.9 PPG, and does it at a 41% mark. Walker is the team’s go-to shooter from the stripe, with an 88% mark. Joining Walker is sophomore T.J. Williams, who adds 8.4 PPG, and leads the squad with 3.4 assists per game, slightly more than Walker’s 3 APG. William’s offers a break in this team’s consistent height, as he stands at 6’3”.
6’5” junior (again continuing how tall this team is) Zach Stahl is another impact player, listed at guard, but played forward in the team’s previous game. Stahl puts up a modest 7.7 PPG, but does it efficiently like Eatherton, at a 50% mark.
There aren’t many key reserves on this team, but the sole major backup forward is 6’7” senior Reggie Spencer (5.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG in about 19 minutes on average), and the sole backup guard receiving more than 5 minutes on average is also the only freshman playing meaningful minutes on an experienced team, Devon Begley (6’4”, 2.8 PPG, 14 MPG).
WEAKNESSES: The most glaring issue for Northeastern is their lack of depth. There is no denying the excitement and production that the starters bring, but beyond that this team doesn’t have much. Four players on the Huskies play 30+ minutes, one plays 26 on average, and from there on out, each player either barely plays, or barely contributes to the team, barring maybe Reggie Spencer. All it takes is an off day for one or two of these guys, and they have no one to turn to on the bench.
This team puts up nearly 20 points less on offense in comparison to Hofstra (64.8 PPG), and that could mean that they won’t have the ability to outscore the Hofstra attack.
THE MATCHUP: This is a test that will determine a lot about how good Hofstra truly is. The Pride has had a lot of easy games this season to quickly toss into the win column, but there is no easy way around this one. The Huskies have a lot going for them; the exact reason they are the CAA favorite.
Northeastern does score a lot less than Hofstra on average, BUT they do that scoring very efficiently (46%), and most likely on a slow paced offense that will take time away from Hofstra pushing the ball up to court at a rapid pace.
The Huskies are also an impressive defensive team, pulling up in the top quarter of programs in points allowed to opponents at 61.6 PPG. They have yet to allow 80 points this season, have kept opponents under 70 points ten times, and done that with a pretty tough schedule to boot. Hofstra has struggled against teams with a bigger defensive presence than offensive (i.e. Columbia), but Hofstra’s defense itself has vastly improved. On the other hand, Columbia didn’t have inside threats like Eatherton.
As I highlighted before, this is one very tall team, and that might be intimidating for a smaller Hofstra squad. With so many 6’6”+ players, will Hofstra be able to withstand the challenge? It is undeniable that the key to winning here isn’t just big nights from the guards we expect to light up the floor (Ameen Tanksley, Juan’ya Green, Brian Bernardi, Dion Nesmith), but a top shelf effort from the forwards. Rokas Gustys has shown huge rebounding prowess, while Moussa Kone has exhibited steady improvement since returning from injury. Kone will need to kick his defensive efforts into high gear, while Gustys should look to clean up his shooting, while maintaining his double-digit rebounding potential. Rokas can tend to miss several inside shots he should make, and tonight cannot be a night where this occurs.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: I’ll turn it over to former sports editor Sean Williams for his look at NU vs. HU:
Sean: “This is the only team in the conference with legit big man depth and talent on a national level. It is why they were so highly considered coming into the season. However, what has become clear is they lack depth. Eatherton and Ford, while both great, have been a little underwhelming without the supporting cast.
In a home game against Hofstra, I expect fairly predictable attempts to feed the ball inside, draw fouls, and frustrate Hofstra’s limited big men. Northeastern plays a slower brand of basketball, and if Hofstra can’t break their deliberate pace, it’ll be tough to grab a road win.
But Hofstra could be favored because they’re great at drawing fouls and hitting threes, two things that deflate a big home crowd.”
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS
Pride
Green (17.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 6.1 APG, Last 3 games in FTs: 20-for-23 )
Bernardi (12.5 PPG, 5-for-9 from three v. Elon)
Nichols (6.1 PPG, 5 RPG, Last game: 0 pts, 5 rebs)
Tanksley (19.1 PPG, 52% FG, 25 pts v. Elon)
Kone (6.1 PPG, 6 pts, 6 rebs v. Elon)
Huskies
Walker (10.9 PPG, 3 APG, 88% FT)
Williams (8.4 PPG, 3.4 APG)
Ford (10.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG)
Stahl (7.7 PPG, 5.4 RPG)
Eatherton (15.4 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 10-for-10 v. Towson
NEXT UP: 1/17 v. UNC-W
This is “The Scouting Report”, an online feature from The Hofstra Chronicle where we go in-depth on the Pride’s upcoming opponent. Stats and insight will be provided to help Hofstra fans know what to expect with each coming matchup.
