NU scores vital point

Transfer Pusica plays role

NEW ENGLAND BASKETBALL

Northeastern coach Bill Coen faced an empty cabinet at point guard, and knew he needed to plan for the future.

T.J. Williams had one more season left, and there wasn’t an obvious replacement for him for when he graduated. Coen hadn’t recruited a natural point guard in his 2016 class, so it became his No.1 priority last offseason.

Coen could have recruited a point guard who would be tasked with a significant role as a freshman, but the more ideal option was finding a transfer — someone he could groom into Williams’ replacement as they sat out a season.

On the opposite side of the country, Coen found his match. Vasa Pusica had just finished his sophomore year at San Diego, but he wanted a change, and he saw a better opportunity with the Huskies. He wanted a similar, if not bigger role, better academics and ultimately, to be put in a better position to play professionally.

NU checked all those boxes, and it didn’t hurt that Boston was much closer to his native Serbia. It was the only school Pusica visited, and Coen had his point guard of the future.

“We had an opportunity to really evaluate the type of player he was and got a chance to know that he was very, very serious about his basketball career and his education,” Coen said. “And we thought it would be a great fit with the way he plays and our style of play.”

It hasn’t happened seamlessly, but Pusica is proving his coach right. After struggling through his first four games, the guard has shaken off the rust and helped lead a young Huskies team to a solid 6-4 start. He’s scored in double figures in each of the last six games, and he leads the team in minutes (29.3 per game), points (14.6) and assists (3.6) through the first 10 games.

“I feel more comfortable,” Pusica said. “A little experience, being comfortable playing with each other, and that’s about it.”

Pusica’s strong early start hasn’t surprised Coen. In fact, it was almost expected after what he saw in glimpses on the practice court last season.

“A lot of times last year he was the best player on the floor in practice,” Coen said. “He was going against T.J. Williams every day and going head to head with the player of the year in the (CAA) and playing pretty well against him. So we knew he had something, but you’re never exactly sure until you start playing the games, how he’ll react.

“And I think one of his biggest attributes is his competitiveness. He hates to lose . ... And so I had a feeling that once we started playing games, that his intensity and competitiveness would come through.”

Engines at full rev

With its win over UMass-Dartmouth last Monday, the MIT men closed the first semester with a 10-1 record — its best start since 2011-12, when the Engineers started 16-0 and ultimately advanced to the Division 3 Final Four.

The Engineers, who cracked the Top 25 at No.22 last week, is getting after it on defense. They rank ninth in the country in scoring defense at 59.6 points per game.

“It’s great. A lot of games against a lot of great teams,” leading scorer Bradley Jomard said. “Just excited to take it one game at a time and do our job, keep playing as a team and get better. We still have a lot of work to do.”

They’re off until Jan.3, when they begin conference play against WPI.

Nice start, coach

UMass women’s coach Tory Verdi is laying down a foundation of success that should help his team’s confidence as it approaches Atlantic 10 play. With an 8-4 record, the Minutewomen are already one win away from matching last season’s total, and they’ve won six of their last seven games.

Verdi has been getting contributions up and down his roster, but none more than Hailey Leidel, who has picked up where she left off last season when she was the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. She leads the team with 17.2 points per game, and her 42 3-pointers made is tied for third in the country . ...

The Wentworth men went into winter break with Thursday’s 76-64 win over Wheelock to improve to 8-2. It was the Leopards’ sixth straight victory, its longest winning streak since 2011 when they won seven in a row . ...

The UMass-Boston women’s 60-49 victory over Clark last Tuesday gave the Beacons a 9-1 record, the best 10game start in program history.