NIT First Round - Connecticut vs Northeastern

(4) Connecticut 59, (5) Northeastern 57

There was no doubt going into this first postseason game of the year that the Huskies would emerge victorious from this first-round NIT battle.  The only question was which Huskies squad would advance: the sometimes-heartless group from Storrs -- Connecticut (17-15, 7-11 Big East) -- or the less talented but amped-up version from Northeastern University (20-12, 14-4 CAA) in Boston.  The Connecticut team showed little heart or desire down the stretch in 2010, finishing 7-11 during the regular season in the nation’s toughest conference and then enduring an embarrassing blowout loss to St. Johns in the Big East Tournament's opening round. In that St. John's game, UConn seemingly gave up when it should have been playing hard for its coach.  Reports of Jim Calhoun’s imminent retirement surely did not motivate his players, who ended the season on a three-game losing streak.
 
UConn entered the game as the squad that was clearly the more talented of the two, a perennial threat to win the Big East and reach the Final Four.  In fact, Connecticut, only a year removed from its last Final Four appearance, entered the season as a top 15 team in the preseason polls.  Last year’s team is mostly gone, however, as second-team All American, Big East Co-Player of the Year, and National Defensive Player of the Year Hasheem Thabeet entered the NBA draft as a junior (and was subsequently the No. 2 pick by the Indiana Pacers), and All-Big East 2nd and 3rd teamers A.J. Price and Jeff Adrien, respectively, were seniors.

It may have been a stretch, then, to expect this year’s UConn team to pick up where last year’s left off.  Regardless, led by a pair of outstanding guards in Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker and senior power forward Stanley Robinson, Connecticut should expect to beat an undermanned Northeastern team that is 4-34 all-time against UConn.
The Colonial Athletic Conference’s second place team had an excellent year by its standards, including big wins over Utah State, Kent State, and Old Dominion, but these Huskies hadn’t faced a team as talented as UConn all year.  Northeastern brought a talented trio of versatile Matt Janning, speedy Chaisson Allen, and beefy big man Manny Adako to Gampel Pavilion on Tuesday night, along with an excited supporting cast as well. The "Colonial" Huskies from Boston gave the more-talented Huskies from Storrs all they could handle on the latter’s home court.

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Northeastern came ready to compete and raced out to a 10-2 lead.  UConn proceeded to hold Northeastern to a five-minute scoring drought, allowing Connecticut to climb back into the game.  After that, it looked like UConn might run away with the game, pulling ahead 34-26 at the half and playing like the more talented team it was.  However, Northeastern came out of the locker room and scored the first six points of the second half, eventually tying the game at 43 with 11:13 left in regulation.  For much of the second half, UConn looked like the team that didn’t care to show up for its past few games.  An obviously perturbed Calhoun watched his team fall behind 54-48 with just over five minutes to go in the game.  Following the final media timeout, at which point Northeastern led 55-50, Jerome Dyson took over the game and willed his Huskies to victory in a game that never should have been in doubt.  Dyson scored two straight buckets, including a three-pointer, before assisting Stanley Robinson on a layup to tie the score at 57 with just under two minutes remaining.  Connecticut would hold Northeastern scoreless for the remainder of the game, with two Dyson free throws providing the final two-point margin of victory.  UConn survived as a last-second three-point attempt by Northeastern's Baptiste Bataille clanged off the back of the rim. 

 
WHAT’S NEXT

Connecticut advances to face the winner of Wednesday night’s game between eighth-seeded NEC regular-season co-champ Quinnipiac and No. 1 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. The top-seeded Hokies were snubbed by the NCAA selection committee, becoming the first ever 10-win ACC team to be left out of the tournament field. 

By: John Cary
BigEast-fans.com Guest Writer

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