Northeastern (4-6) at No. 22 UVa (8-1)

6 p.m., ACCN

Virginia finally returns from its annual exam break tomorrow night, when the Wahoos play their first game in 11 days. It starts a three-game stretch to wrap up non-conference play this month, beginning with this weekend’s contest against Northeastern.

Like the Cavaliers, the Huskies are is coming off of a break of their own, and Saturday’s game at JPJ will be their first in 10 days. Northeastern is 4-6 on the year, with wins over Boston University, ECU, Georgia Southern, and ODU. The Huskies have played a pair of top-100 KenPom teams, losing to No. 51 Princeton and No. 87 Seton Hall by double digits.

In the18th year under head coach Bill Coen, a remarkably long time for any coach to be anywhere, the Huskies are just over .500 during his tenure. And while they had a stretch of solid seasons in the last decade, the program has taken a downturn over the past few years. Northeastern had three 23+ win seasons from 2014-2019, including a pair of CAA titles and NCAA Tournament bids. But since a 10-9 shortened 2020-21 season, the Huskies are just 23-47, and have gone 8-28 in conference play over the past two seasons. This year, they were picked to finish seventh in the CAA preseason poll.

Northeastern ranks 210th in KenPom heading into the weekend, which makes the Huskies the fourth sub-200 opponent of the season for UVa (NC A&T, Texas Southern, NC Central). They have been solid on offense but have really struggled to stop opponents, allowing 79+ points in five of their six losses.

Northeastern ranks 112th nationally in offensive efficiency. Its effective field-goal percentage ranks 79th as the Huskies have played primarily through their frontcourt. They are 57th in two-point field-goal percentage and 65th in offensive rebound rate. They also get to the line quite a bit, ranking 45th nationally in free throw to field goal attempt ratio. Northeastern has struggled with turnovers, though, ranking 240th in turnover rate, something that could haunt Coen’s team against a suddenly turnover-heavy UVa defense.

On D, Northeastern ranks 316th in efficiency. The Huskies have struggled to do almost everything on that end of the floor, ranking 322nd in 3-point percentage allowed, 319th in two-point percentage allowed, and 338th in effective field-goal percentage allowed. Their greatest strength is avoiding fouls, as they rank seventh nationally in free-throw rate allowed, but perhaps the lack of contact is part of the reason opponents are making so many shots in the first place.

Chris Doherty, Forward

Now in his sixth season of college basketball, Doherty has officially out-lived Kihei Clark in college basketball after starting at the same time. He began at Notre Dame, playing two seasons with the Irish before transferring to Northeastern. This year, Doherty leads the Huskies in scoring at 11.9 points per game. The 6-foot-7 super-senior is coming off of his best scoring performance of the year, dropping 21 at Vermont. Doherty also has three double-doubles and averages 7 boards per game.

Luka Sakota, Guard

Another transfer, Sakota joined the Huskies this season after a three-year career across town at Harvard. He is averaging 11.7 points per contest, and takes just over four 3-pointers per game, making 34.9 percent of them. The 6-foot-6 Canadian has six double-figure scoring efforts this year, including a 23-point binge at Kennesaw State.

Masai Troutman, Guard

A sophomore from Frederick (MD), Troutman has seen an increase in playing time this year and has developed into one of Northeastern’s top scoring options. He is third on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game, up from 6.3 a year ago. Troutman had a pair of solid games before the exam break, going for 14 in the win over ODU and 15 in the loss to Vermont.

It’s always interesting to see how the Cavaliers play after the long December layoff. But over time, they’ve been able to shake off rust and take care of business for the most part.

UVa is 9-1 in the post-exam game over the past decade and most of these contests have been against opponents like Northeastern, those that the Hoos are expected to beat. The lone loss came last year, when Virginia dropped its first game of the season to Houston after an 11-day hiatus.

Simply put, the Cavaliers should be able to make that 10-1 against the Huskies. If Northeastern continues to struggle as it has on defense, the Wahoos should be able to pick the Huskies apart, and as long as they aren’t ice cold from the floor they should win this one going away.

If all goes according to plan, this will serve as a good warm-up game after a long layoff before a trip to Memphis on Tuesday for the first true road game of the season.