Cougars Look for Second Straight W Against Sliding Northeastern

College of Charleston (13-13, 5-6)

Northeastern (8-18, 5-7)

TD Arena

Tipoff at 7pm on CSS

After a much-needed victory over Drexel on Thursday, the Cougars will look to pick up a second straight win during their three game home stand. Northeastern comes to town reeling; they've lost four of their last five and thanks to a postponed game in Wilmington they have one less day of prep for Charleston. You may remember Scott Eatherton from the matchup in Boston a month ago. One of the nation's leading double-double machines, Eatherton is an All-CAA big man averaging 16 and 10 per game. This is an important game in helping to separate the crowded middle seeds of the CAA with the postseason looming. Like the Cougars, NU isn't a scoring machine so we may see another final score in the 40's - you were warned.

What happened last time these teams met

The Cougars picked up their first (and only) CAA road win of the season in historic Matthews Arena. Eatherton quickly extended his double-double streak by schooling Adjehi in the first half and nearly accomplishing the feat in the first 20 minutes alone. Some halftime adjustments saw Adehi staying grounded defending Eatherton and the Husky offense faltered. Anthony Thomas was the star of the game - packing the stat sheet with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. His length and defensive ability in that game was reflective of the whole team - as the Cougars forced 9 steals and had 9 blocks to disrupt Northeastern in their home building. Charleston was victorious, 58-49.

Since then

Just like half this conference, both teams are fighting to separate themselves from the tightly contested middle of the conference and snag a 4 seed behind Delaware, Towson and William & Mary. Shortly after the Charleston loss, Northeastern was able to knock off Towson in Maryland (still the only team to do so this year) and take Delaware to the wire. However, they also have blowout losses to the Blue Hens in a rematch, a 12-point pounding by the Tribe and most recently a loss to The Dub in which the Huskies only amassed 45 points. If you regularly read this blog you know the story behind CofC's string of close losses prior to the Drexel game two days ago.

X-Factor

Demetrius Pollard is a guy to look out for in this game. He has the three main characteristics of a CofC Cougar-killer. 1) he's undersized at just 6'2. 2) He did not have a good game the last time these teams played (just 5 points and 4 turnovers in 32 minutes) and finally 3) he's capable of getting hot from outside the arc. He averages 9 points per contest but he also has games this season where he has lit it up from three for 27, 25 and 19 points(twice). Eatherton and David Walker are the headliners and the Cougars have a pretty good scouting report on them. In a low scoring game like this, a hot streak from either team can make a difference and that is why Pollard is an x-factor.