Saturday, February 23rd, 4:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Hart Recreation Center (3,600) -- Worcester, Massachusetts. Television: None. Home Record: Northeastern 6-3, Holy Cross 7-4. Away Record: Northeastern 6-11, Holy Cross 7-6. Neutral Record: Northeastern 0-0, Holy Cross 0-1. Conference Record: Northeastern 8-8, Holy Cross 5-7. Series Record: Holy Cross leads, 12-4.

GAME NOTES: The Northeastern Huskies take a break from Colonial Athletic Association play this weekend to contend with the Holy Cross Crusaders at the Hart Recreation Center in Worcester. On Wednesday night, the Huskies suffered their second straight loss in a 66-62 setback to VCU at home. The decision dropped Northeastern to an even 8-8 in conference, with dates against ODU and George Mason remaining before the start of the conference tournament. As for the Crusaders, who have games remaining against Colgate and Lehigh to close out the month prior to the start of the Patriot League Tournament, they had a three-game win streak halted three nights ago with a 72-66 setback to Navy in Annapolis. With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the Crusaders are ahead by a count of 12-4.

Matt Janning tallied 15 points and pulled down six rebounds on Wednesday night, but his efforts couldn't quite get the Huskies past VCU in league action. Chaisson Allen added 13 points, four steals and three assists to try and offset four turnovers, while Manny Adako tacked on 12 points. The team not only allowed the Rams to shoot 60.6 percent from the field on the night, the Huskies were also outscored at the free-throw line, 21-13. Janning leads the team in scoring this season with his 16.3 ppg, followed by Adako and Nkem Ojougboh with 10.7 ppg each, which means the trio combines for more than half the unit's 64 ppg this season. Having played 26 games this season, the Huskies have surrendered just as many points (1,665) as they've produced, even with the squad making only 41.8 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from beyond the arc.

The Crusaders held Navy to just 35 percent shooting from the field and 7-of-26 behind the three-point line earlier this week, yet Holy Cross still found a way to lose by six points on the road in Maryland. In addition to 19 turnovers, the Crusaders also watched as the Middies made good on 23-of-25 chances at the free-throw line. Accounting for more than half of the team's production, Tim Clifford registered a career-high 34 points on 14-of-18 shooting, followed by Pat Doherty with 11 points off the bench. Clifford has led the team in scoring in 11 straight outings and is the only player on the roster scoring in double figures with 17.3 ppg on the strength of his 56.1 percent shooting from the floor. Clifford, who has fouled out of six games, is also the leader with five and a half rebounds per game and a total of 56 blocked shots. Holy Cross is coming up with just 61.9 ppg this year, but that's still better than the 60.7 ppg surrendered by the squad over the course of 25 games.

One of the better teams that few people know anything about, Holy Cross may have taken a step back this season, but the talent that the Crusaders have still manages to get the job done and they should be able handle the Huskies here.

Predicted Outcome

Holy Cross 62, Northeastern 55