The visitor may have arrived sporting an unsightly 1-11 Colonial Athletic Association record.
But that Carpenter Center guest on Thursday night happened to be Northeastern, a perennial men’s basketball championship contender experiencing an unusually difficult season that has included some misfortune.
Delaware, the preseason CAA favorite that had lost back-to-back home games, expected a tough test.
“That was a big thing coming into the game because obviously it was a battle back and forth in our game that we played them in Boston,” Delaware forward Andrew Carr said of a Jan. 17 UD overtime win, “and they’ve definitely been in a lot of games this year throughout the league and we know they’re a tough team. They play really physical, really hard, doesn’t matter who they’re playing against, so we knew we were coming into a battle.”
BOX SCORE: Delaware 74, Northeastern 61
Considering how it played out, a 74-61 Delaware win made it a particularly fulfilling endeavor for the Blue Hens and most of the 2,347 witnesses.
Delaware built a double-digit advantage early before the Huskies, in typical fashion, rallied to grab the lead and the momentum to start the second half. Glen McClintock’s 3-pointer pushed Northeastern ahead 47-42 with 14:48 left.
But it was more than seven minutes before Northeastern made another shot from the field as an 11-0 run allowed the Blue Hens to grab the lead, then grow it to as many as 17 points.
Delaware, which entered the game with a CAA-best 48.4 field-goal percentage in league games, shot 60 percent (33-for-55) including 6-for-14 on 3-pointers. The 14 3-point tries were Delaware’s second fewest in a game this season.
CAA STANDINGS: Hens try to stay in chase
“I challenged them we have to find ways to win when we don’t score 85 points,” said Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby, whose team had averaged 82.4 points in its previous five CAA wins.
That’s why defense was so critical Thursday.
The Huskies shot 39.6 percent from the field for the game (21-for-53) and 31 percent (9-for-29) in the second half.
“They had 11 points in the first four minutes of the second half and we knew, that’s unacceptable,” said fifth-year senior guard Kevin Anderson. “ . . . After that we just locked in and we all knew what we had to do. We started communicating a lot more on defense.”
Northeastern had just 17 points in the final 16 minutes.
RARE REUNION: Ex-Hens Pegues, Brey square off as coaches
Two 3-pointers by Anderson to complete the onslaught left the senior guard with a game-high 22 points, one of four Blue Hens in double figures.
Jameer Nelson Jr. supplied 18 points on 9-for-11 shooting, Carr had 14 points and seven rebounds while playing nearly the entire second half with three fouls – not four as the game’s live stats mistakenly were reporting – and Jyare Davis had 12 points.
“I thought we were able to get them into some ball screens and get some stuff around the basket,” Ingelsby said. “Jameer had a couple tough, strong drives around the basket and then we were able to get Andrew Carr with our spacing into some ball screens.”
Delaware played its third game without first-team All-CAA postman Dylan Painter (ankle).
GET THE POINT?: Dickey provides prolific scoring, more for Hens
“We have so many weapons,” Anderson said. “We can score in so many different ways – inside, outside. It doesn’t matter. We know we can score. We just gotta really play defense and really lock in on that if we want to be a great team.”
Delaware (16-8 overall, 7-4 CAA), which had dropped its previous two home games to Towson and Drexel, began a busy stretch of five games in 10 days.
Hofstra, an 83-73 winner at Drexel Thursday, visits Saturday at 6 :30 p.m. and James Madison comes in Monday at 7. Delaware then makes its Elon/William & Mary swing next Thursday and Saturday.
Northeastern, which was second to Delaware in the CAA preseason media/coaches’ poll and had seven first-place votes, fell to 7-17, 1-12.
“They’re really good,” Ingelsby said of his pregame message to players about Northeastern. “They have really good players. They’re getting healthier. [Chris] Doherty [one of the nation’s leading rebounders] didn’t play against us the first time. He’s a big physical body. We’re down Dylan Painter. This is an important game for us. We need to get this one and I think our guys were ready to play.”
Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com.
