NU 78, St. John’s 64: Huskies Storm Past St. John’s Led By Joel Smith’s Career Day

What happened? Joel Smith drilled a three-pointer 27 seconds into the contest, setting the tone for what would be a career-best day for the junior captain. Smith knocked down his first three long distance tries in the game’s opening four minutes, helping push the Huskies to a quick 16-7 lead. The hot shooting display seemed to stun St. John’s, who turned the ball over six times in the next six minutes, allowing the visitors to push the advantage to as many as 12. The visitors employed a zone defense, and the Red Storm could not take advantage of the shooting opportunities, going 1 of 6 from beyond the arc in the first half. Despite the sluggish start, St. John’s used a 17-7 run to close the deficit to two points at halftime. Better ball movement and shot selection allowed the Red Storm to continue the late momentum from the first half and grab their first lead at the 17:50 mark of the second half. Northeastern immediately responded, hitting the glass and taking control of the rebounding battle. Quincy Ford, Kashief Edwards, Kauri Black and Reggie Spencer all got in on the act, creating second, third, and even fourth shot opportunities for the visitors. As a result of the offensive rebounds St. John’s was continually caught out of position, allowing for Smith to get open for more long distance tries. Smith again delivered for his team, burying three treys in another four minute span. The hosts rallied to get within four, until the Huskies ran off 11 consecutive points to build a 70-55 lead with 4:24 to go, the largest of the game. From there NU made good on 8 of 11 free throws to pull out the 78-64 win. Player of the Game: No debate here. With a career-high 29 points, 21 coming on three-pointers, Smith stole the show from the opening tip-off. His prowess from beyond the arc allowed Northeastern to jump out to a quick lead and forced St. John’s to play catch up all afternoon. The seven threes and 10 field goals were also career-highs for Smith, who entered Saturday’s contest having only connected on 9 of 27 field goal attempts through the season’s first three games. It was immediately apparent that Smith took the floor determined to become a more focal part of the Huskies offensive attack. His teammates looked for him early, setting screens and running plays that allowed him to shake from his defender for some open looks. Smith wasted no time, squaring to shoot once he received a pass and looking confident with each attempt. For the first time this year, Smith looked like the player who averaged double figures in 11 straight games a season ago. Smith joined impressive company with his three point barrage. It was the most three pointers hit by a Northeastern player since NBA champion Jose Juan Barea hit seven against Maine on Feb. 26, 2004. Hot shooting aside, Smith made his impact in other aspects of play. He led his team with 10 rebounds, dished out three assists and tied a career-high with three steals in 38 minutes of play. The 6-foot-4 guard looked locked in all game, hustling around the court for loose balls and barking directions and words of encouragement to teammates. It’s no stretch to say this was Smith’s best game in a Northeastern uniform. The Takeaway: Lots to take away in this one, and nearly all of it good for NU. First, it was nice to see Smith make an offensive impact that had been missing up to that point. In the Huskies’ 64-57 victory over Southern Illinois on Homecoming , Smith tallied only five points, his lowest output in nearly a year. While scoring certainly isn’t the only measure of a player’s contribution to his team, it will be important for Smith to contribute at least 10 to 15 points per game. Jonathan Lee finished second on the team in scoring with 17, but it was Black’s 12 points that proved more significant. Though he is 6-7, Black is a good ball handler and moves well for his size. On several possessions, Northeastern overloaded one side of the court and looked for Black cutting to the basket from the weak side. From there Black could stop for a mid-range jump shot, dribble and attack the basket, or turn and pass it back to the perimeter for another shooter. Black was 6 of 11 from the floor, collecting five layups and one dunk, and led the squad with five assists. On just about every possession he touched the ball Black made the right decision, going to the hoop when the opportunity presented itself and kicking it out to an open shooter when the defense sagged into the paint too much. Though he again fouled out after 37 minutes of play, Black was a perfect inside compliment to the outside shooting from Smith. Edwards also turned in his best performance as a Husky, reaching double figures with 11 points while grabbing five rebounds. The senior transfer provided solid defense as well, recording two huge blocks that helped lead to fast break points at the other end of the floor. It seems every game Edwards is getting more comfortable in Bill Coen’s system. Although not eye popping stat-wise, it was nice to see Ford add seven points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. At 6-8, Ford needs to make an impact rebounding the basketball when he is on the floor. He also connected on his first three pointer of the season, which will prove important as the season wears on. Ford doesn’t have to drop a lot of points during games, but he has to make the defense at least respect his ability to shoot from the outside so as to create more space for Smith and Lee. Hot shooting can come and go, but the biggest takeaway from Saturday was the output on the glass. The Huskies edged the Red Storm 45-35 in rebounding, marking the third time in four games that Northeastern has out-rebounded its opponent. Coincidently, NU is 3-0 in those games. What makes the work on the boards so impressive is the caliber of opponent. While St. John’s is not an elite team and was playing without its head coach (Steve Lavin, still recovering from prostate cancer treatment), the Red Storm are still a Big East program that can recruit top notch frontcourt players. Boston University and Southern Illinois simply don’t have big men of the same talent level as the Johnnies, so for Northeastern to win the rebounding battle is more impressive. Offensive rebounding was particularly significant, with the Huskies grabbing 21 offensive rebounds compared to only 12 for St. John’s. Rebounding was something NU couldn’t get much of last season, as most opponents out-rebounded the club. By winning the majority of the battles down low, Northeastern is creating multiple shot opportunities while simultaneously limiting possessions for opponents. It doesn’t take a basketball genius to know that the more times a team has the ball, the more chances they have to score. Through four games this has been the biggest difference between this year’s team and last year’s team. Quotes of Note: Bill Coen: “Joel is our primary three point threat. We knew we were going to face a lot of zone today, and we were hoping that we’d be able to get him loose for a couple of early looks. He made his first three of the game and I thought that really kind of set the tone for him.” Joel Smith: “I wasn’t able to get involved in the first couple games. Coach Coen and me talked and he just told me to keep my head up. I practiced hard over the summer, so he told me to just calm down and it would come to me and depend on my teammates.” Download audio file (112611-Coen-Smith-St-Johns-postgame.mp3)

Old Dominion Notches First Playoff Win, 35-18

Old Dominion fans should be forgiven if they experienced “deja vu” at the start of Saturday’s game

Heinicke, Monarchs knock Spartans out of FCS playoffs

Taylor Heinicke looked as if he was waiting for a bus late Saturday afternoon.

ODU eliminates NSU from FCS playoffs 35-18

Old Dominion freshman quarterback Taylor Heinicke threw five touchdown passes as the Monarchs ousted Norfolk State from the FCS playoffs in the first round on Saturday at Foreman Field.

Obama, Bill Murray Watch Oregon St. Defeat Towson, 66-46

TOWSON, Md – What a way to kick-off the first home game in the Pat

Five halftime thoughts: Cleveland State

1.) The Flying Dutchmen and Cleveland State are tied 29-29 after a taut first half in which neither team led by more than three points, and much like the issues that have dogged the Dutchmen thus far, what went wrong appears fixable. Hofstra has just 20 shots on 29 possessions and has turned the ball over eight times. A few more successful possessions and the Dutchmen could be in position to pull off the upset. 2.) This is another balanced scoring effort from the Dutchmen, albeit with a very surprising leading scorer. Stephen Nwaukoni, who played just two minutes yesterday, has eight points, two shy of his career high. The Dutchmen already have eight players in the boxscore, and it’s encouraging they are tied while getting so little from Mike Moore (one point), Nathaniel Lester (six points) and Shemiye McLendon (scoreless thus far). 3.) The presence of Crowder not only allows Mo Cassara to make what Gary Moore has called “hockey line changes”—i.e. mass substitutions—but it has apparently lifted the play of fellow bigs Nwaukoni and Moussa Kone. The Dutchmen are outrebounding Cleveland State 18-11 and Nwaukoni has two of his three field goals off offensive rebounds. The Dutchmen have been increasingly resilient on the boards this week, which is an encouraging trend looking ahead towards CAA play. 4.) The Dutchmen have done a better job of breaking the full court press than they did yesterday against Rhode Island and are forcing plenty of fouls from an aggressive Cleveland State squad. The Dutchmen were 10-of-13 from the line, compared to just 3-of-5 for Cleveland State, and have just one player with two fouls (Kone). 5.) Before heading to Rhode Island, this was one of those games in which a valiant effort by the Dutchmen in defeat would have been acceptable, externally as well as maybe even internally. But now that the Dutchmen have the upset in sight—and need to win their last two games this month to end November with a winning record—they need to find a way to pull this one off, establish a “trademark win” far earlier than normal and create some major momentum heading into a December that opens with tough tilts against James Madison and Wagner.

Postgame Buffet: Rhode Island 85, Hofstra 73 (Or: Why is URI bringing me down, man?)

Believe it or not, this fits into the season-long theme of recap subtitles. Ha! Enjoy that hint, Loyal Reader Missy! There aren’t many losses by double digits that will leave a coach feeling reasonably good about his team. But given the disaster that seemed to be unfolding for the Flying Dutchmen midway through the first half of their game against Rhode Island Friday afternoon, Mo Cassara was borderline upbeat after the 85-73 loss in a Ticket City Legends sub-regional in Rhode Island. Rhode Island was in the midst of a 16-0 run before the first TV timeout of the game and led 37-18 at the under-8 stoppage. But the Dutchmen adapted to the Rams’ full court press defense, fixed their own defense a bit, got within four late in the first half and closed the gap to three points nine minutes into the second half before falling short yet avoiding the type of blowout defeat that was all-too-commonplace last season. “I’m encouraged by a lot of things,” Cassara said by phone afterward. “I think [Rhode Island is] a very good team and they had to win that game. They’re 0-3 and they’re coming home and they’ve won 31 straight non-conference games at home. We got out of the gate slow and we talked about that, their press really bothered us. A lot of credit to our guys to fight back.” Here’s the five post-game thoughts, including one on the debut of a player we’ve been waiting to see since 1994 (give or take 17 years): 1.) He’s not the first or second star of the game, but the most impressive and encouraging performance yesterday belonged to Bryant Crowder. Sure, most of that has to do with Crowder putting up a very solid line (13 points and six rebounds) in his debut after arriving at Hofstra with plenty of hype and then sitting out the first four games due to a coach’s decision, but the freakishly athletic 6-foot-10 Crowder looked like the type of center Hofstra hasn’t had since, well, ever. (Or at least since I started paying attention, which is all that matters #ESPNGeneration) The most noteworthy thing about Crowder’s final line is how he put it together. He appeared headed for a Brad Kelleher-esque debut when he picked up three fouls in just five minutes in the first half, but in 13 second half minutes, Crowder had 11 points and all six of his rebounds. He had a couple dunks, including an alley-oop, that showed off his giant wingspan, which he also showed off when he was whistled (erroneously, we might add with a hearty chant of QUAHOG BIAS!!!) for goaltending on a resounding block of a T.J. Buchanan layup. Crowder displayed a polish under the basket, on both ends of the floor, that fellow big men Moussa Kone and Stephen Nwaukoni are still trying to attain. Crowder’s presence in the middle was a major reason why the Dutchmen outrebounded Rhode Island 20-13 in the second half (they were outrebounded by the Rams 19-10 in the first half) and limited the hosts to just three offensive rebounds in the final 20 minutes. Crowder is very raw, on and off the court, which is why it took him four games to make his debut. But if he can continue maturing, he has a chance to not only supplant Kone in the starting lineup but to develop into a big-time CAA center. “His athleticism really presented itself and gives us another level of speed and quickness,” Cassara said. “He was able to get out and really [make] some aggressive moves to the basket, get some dunks and give us a little bit of life. He’s still got to work some dust off of not really playing, that was his first major college basketball game. He had a couple critical issues, a couple missed assignments that quite honestly he’s got to work out. He’s a little behind in that department.” As for why Crowder was benched the first four games? “The only thing I’ll say publicly is it was strictly a coaches’ decision,” Cassara said. “And I felt over the last couple weeks that he started to make some progress doing what we expect him to do, on and off the court. He continues to do that, he can help us win games. And anybody that doesn’t do those things—I’m about building a program here, not just about winning games.” 2.) The Dutchmen turning a rout into a competitive defeat was the latest evidence of the depth and multiple options they lacked last year, when the Dutchmen won seven games in which they came back from double digit deficits yet also endured six losses in which they were beaten by at least 15 points. Conclusion: Charles Jenkins could do a lot, but the Dutchmen’s reliance on him also left them prone to the blowout defeat. Nathaniel Lester, fresh off the worst shooting performance by a Hofstra player since the program joined the CAA, was far better Saturday in scoring 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting (including 7-of-11 inside the 3-point arc) while tying for the team lead with seven rebounds and two assists and adding a team-high three steals. He began the Dutchmen’s comeback attempt by scoring the Dutchmen’s first seven points following Rhode Island’s 16-0 run. Mike Moore, meanwhile, nearly single-handedly brought the Dutchmen back by going on his own 12-0 run that narrowed the gap to 37-30. That burst accounted for nearly half of Moore’s 25 points—just three shy of his career high—but he was more consistent than he was on Tuesday against Florida Atlantic. He was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and added seven rebounds. Yesterday marked the second time this season the Dutchmen have had two 20-point scorers in the same game (Lester and Moore both times). That happened just five times in 33 games last year. “I think both did some great things,” Cassara said. “I think both of them would admit that they have some things that they can get better at. Twenty-five and 22 and a couple little tweaks here and there and they both have 30.” 3.) The Dutchmen had three double-digit scorers for the fourth time this season, but it was basically a three-man show. Lester, Moore and Crowder combined for 60 points, 20 of the Dutchmen’s 30 rebounds and all but one of their 25 free throw attempts. That so much of the Dutchmen’s offense went through those three went a long way towards explaining why Hofstra scored on just 15 of the 26 second half possessions in which it had a chance to cut Rhode Island’s lead to six points or less. Shemiye McLendon, who entered the game averaging 8.4 points and 27 minutes per game, took just one shot, was scoreless for just the third time in 37 career games and tied a career low by playing just 10 minutes. David Imes pulled down five rebounds but scored just four points and has 15 points in his last three games, only the fifth time since the start of last season he has scored 15 or fewer in a three-game stretch. Point guards Stevie Mejia and Dwan McMillan combined for five points, four assists and four turnovers as the Dutchmen finished with 11 assists and 17 turnovers. “We’ve got to get a little more out of David Imes and Shemiye and got to take better care of the basketball,” Cassara said. “It’s hard to win at Rhode Island if you turn it over 17 times a game. And in all reality, with three minutes to go, it’s a six-point game and if we get one stop we’re right there.” 4.) Somewhat related: The Dutchmen are just 2-3, but coming back from early double-digit deficits and avoiding routs at Oregon State and Rhode Island indicates the team possesses an undercurrent of toughness as well as the ability to correct its flaws. “We’re not playing our best basketball yet but it’s a tough group—we’ve got some guys that don’t want to give up, they don’t want to lose [and] I think that only helps us moving forward,” Cassara said. “The one thing that’s really encouraging, from a statistical standpoint, is rebounding. We go out to Oregon State, the biggest team we’ll play all year, and lose by 10 without Bryant. And then today, against a really athletic team that really just jumped out on us, we still found a way to come back and I think we only gave them three offensive rebounds in the second half. “We’re still making critical mistakes at critical times and that’s something that we’re going to get better at. These are things that can be fixed.” 5.) That said, as upbeat as Cassara was after the loss, there’s no concealing the fact it’s essential the moral victories be replaced by actual victories at some point in the next two days. And in order to avoid another 0-fer tournament—and to avoid carrying a four-game losing streak into the look-but-don’t-touch CAA opener against James Madison a week from today—the Dutchmen will have to figure out a way to beat a borderline top 25 team in Cleveland State tomorrow and/or defending North Atlantic Conference, err, America East champion Boston University Sunday. The task got a little tougher Friday, when unbeaten Cleveland State needed five points in the last six seconds to come back and beat winless Boston U., 63-62. “We’ve gotta find a way,” Cassara said. “[Today] we’re playing a top 25 team, certainly a top 30 team in the country, a team that won at Vanderbilt, a team that won at Penn State. And then Boston U’s a really good team. They’re 0-4 but they’ve played a really tough schedule. “This tournament is tough—if you think about it, go to Oregon State, go to Rhode Island. [play] Cleveland State and Boston University at neutral sites. Many ways, that’s tougher than Puerto Rico [last year].” 3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Rhode Island, 11/25) 3: Nathaniel Lester 2: Mike Moore 1: Bryant Crowder SEASON STANDINGS Mike Moore 11 Nathaniel Lester 8 Shemiye McLendon 4 David Imes 3 Dwan McMillan 2 Bryant Crowder 1 Stevie Mejia 1 Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch .

Quotebook: Mo Cassara

I didn’t get all these quotes in a 1-on-1 setting with Mo Cassara, so I can’t call this a Q&A. Therefore, welcome to the first-ever (I think?) Defiantly Dutch Quotebook! Most of these quotes are from a sit-down with Cassara in his office Wednesday, but the first comment was made following the loss to Florida Atlantic Tuesday and I think it’s pretty relevant as the Dutchmen prepare to play three games in three days in the Ticket City Legends Classic in Rhode Island. Enjoy! On what he and the Dutchmen can take from the Puerto Rico Tip Off experience last year: We came out of Puerto Rico last year 0-3 and then we rattled off [20 of the next 29]. So we can’t let [the Florida Atlantic] loss affect our whole season, or a couple losses. This team still has a lot of pieces that haven’t played together and that’s evident offensively. We’re just not all clicking on the same cylinders. That will come. Offensive consistency will come. We haven’t had a lot of time for practice, with last week [and] a lot of travel, so I’m looking forward to getting back from this tournament next week and really having a full week to get ready for our first CAA game next Saturday. On the biggest challenge of playing two or three games in as many days in a pre-season tournament: I think the biggest challenge is trying to conserve your bodies a little bit and certainly getting mentally ready to play. Because if you lose, you’ve got to turn around and prepare for another team really quickly. If you win, you’ve still got to do the same thing. We don’t have a deep bench, so we’re going to have to find a way to play some other guys a lot of minutes. I think the biggest challenge is just a lot of minutes in a short amount of time. On preparing for three teams in three days: It’s tough. You’ve got to prepare for the first one the most. And the other two, each coach has one team, so they’ll have to have those ready. The one thing is you actually get to physically see the other two teams, so that helps a little bit in the preparation. Sometimes on film it’s really hard to tell, but at least we’ll get a chance to see them live. So then it’s a quick turnaround and you’ve got to kind of move past the first game. Like Puerto Rico last year—you lose to Carolina, as much as you want to correct some things and fix some things, you’ve got to just move past it and try to win the next game. Thoughts on Rhode Island, Cleveland State and Boston University: Rhode Island, I think, is probably the most athletic team we’ll play all year. They love to get up and down the court. They’re 0-3 but they’ve played Texas, Nebraska and George Mason all on the road, so a very, very long, athletic team. Cleveland State, from what I’ve seen of them, borderline top 25 team. I think they’re 25th in one poll, one of the online polls, all seniors, very well-coached, hard-nosed kids. BU, I haven’t seen a lot of, I know Joe Jones a little bit and I know they have a couple kids that have been injured. We’ll get a better feel when we get up there. On how valuable it is to play a challenging schedule like the one the Dutchmen have played thus far: St. Francis is a good team, they’re going to win some games in their league. And LIU is picked to win their league. So we’ve got a real challenging schedule. And we come back and play James Madison and go to Wagner. The top part of our schedule is very, very challenging. Hopefully we can learn from some of the things that we may or may not do well. And then, obviously, we want to be playing our best basketball in January and February. Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch .

ODU game plan for playoff opener includes common courtesy

Old Dominion University chose not to play by the rules in the days preceding today’s opening-round FCS playoff game in Norfolk.

NSU-ODU football preview capsule

Norfolk State at Old DominionWhere: Foreman Field (cap. 19,818), Norfolk  When: 1:30 p.m.

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