Previewing Northeastern...

The Patriots travel to Boston on Wednesday to face a gritty Northeastern squad battling for CAA supremacy. The Huskies are not scoring juggernaunts and have rallied off strong defensive play in their success this season. They have the best turnover margin in the conference and have two players averaging nearly two steals a contest. Matt Janning is one of them and he leads the Huskies again this year a junior. There is no shortage of size on this squad as no starters are under 6-4. Unlike most other mid-major teams they sport a more tradition lineup; a center, two forwards, and two guards, as opposed to most of the three-guard lineups you will see in the CAA. Forward Manny Adako is a legit post player, who recently dropped 24 on Towson and gave Will Thomas trouble last year at Matthews Arena. Chaisson Allen joins Janning in the back court and seems to be steadily improving after his CAA all-freshman team honors last year. Allen isn't a terrific shooter but at 6-5 he could cause some problems in the back court for the Patriots.

This will no doubt be a low scoring contest with both teams playing excellent defense lately. The key for Mason will be to use their speed and athleticism at the guard spots to create more scoring opportunities. I would hope to see less wild three-point attempts and more of guys like Dre Smith and Cam Long driving to the basket. High-scoring affairs haven't favored the Huskies this season and if these teams start trading baskets the Patriots could run away with it. I highly doubt that will happen but I wouldn't be surprised to see Coach L try to push the tempo early. Neither team is deep so Pearson and Cornelius providing a spark off the bench could be a huge factor. Another big factor could be turnovers, both teams love to ball-hawk and whoever turns over the ball the least could come out the winner.