The Visitors from Boston: Northeastern Preview

Northeastern Huskies (11-13, 7-7, 7th CAA) 
Coach: Bill Coen (sixth season, 88-95).
The History: The Series between these two teams is brief, standing at 5 wins for each team. It has been strongly in favor of the Home Team. To this point the home team has won every matchup in the Series, including a 64-50 win by the Huskies up in Boston back on January 14th.
Last time out: The Huskies lost to Georgia State 61-59 on Wednesday. NU got 16 points and 8 rebounds from guard Joel Smith and fellow co-captain Jonathon Lee added 14 points, as the Huskies lost for the fifth time in their last nine games.
The Skinny: 
NU, led by Juniors Jonathon Lee and Joel Smith, have been a very streaky team this season. They are currently riding a three game losing streak. They are the sixth best defensive team in the league (allowing 64.0 ppg), and are the 3^rd best three point shooters at 33% from long range although the majority of their points come from in close, as they look inside to the two young freshman forwards often.
The Players: 
• Junior Jonathan Lee averaged 15.5 ppg last week and extended his double-figure scoring streak to 13 games. Lee has scored at least 9 points in every game this season. Lee ranks among the CAA’s top 10 in scoring (14.8ppg/8th), assists (3.6apg/6th) and steals (1.7spg/8th). He’s shooting 48.1% from the floor and 41.8% from three.
• Freshman Quincy Ford averaged 13.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg last week and blocked 5 shots. He has 9 double-digit scoring efforts in the last 11 games and is 26th in the CAA in scoring and 7th in steals.
• Junior Joel Smith scored 13 points at VCU and 16 against Ga. State. He has 7 double-figure outings in his last 10 games. Smith has made at least one 3 pointer in 42 of his last 45 games.
• Freshman Reggie Spencer leads the team in FG % at 50.8% from the floor and is tied for the rebounding lead with 5 per game.
Tribe Disa & Data:
• Freshman Marcus Thornton was named CAA ROY for the second time this season. His career-high 28 pts vs. VCU was the 6th-best total by a freshman in W&M history.
• Junior Matt Rum is the top 3 point marksman for the Tribe, shooting 38% from three. He is also the Tribe’s second best Free Throw shooter, hitting 81% of his attempts.
• The Tribe has definitely been a slow starter this season. W&M has scored almost 200 more points in the second half of games (33.3 pph) than in the first half of its games (25.6 pph).
The Broadcast: Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM. Be sure to join us for The Countdown to Tipoff, which begins at 6:30 PM along the network,92.3 FM and 107.9 FM, and on www.tribeathletics.com. Hear Coach Shaver’s thoughts prior to the tip, as well as get the scouting report on the Huskies.