If the Massachusetts men’s basketball team needed a reminder of what kind of trouble it was up against Northeastern last night, then Jose Juan Barea took it upon himself to make it abundantly clear just before the first half expired.

Holding a six-point lead after responding to an 11-0 UMass run with a 10-0 run of their own, the Huskies appeared content to head into halftime with a two-possession lead. Barea, Northeastern’s explosive point guard who unofficially ranked first nationally in scoring average entering play, slowly sauntered over half court with the ball as the clock wound down under five seconds, not appearing to realize that he was quickly running out of time. Then, without the slightest hesitation, Barea set his feet at the far right end of the Mullins Center’s half-court logo, cocked his shooting arm under the ball, and showed perfect form in firing a 30-plus foot trey that hit only twine. It happened so fast that those in attendance who looked away for a split second may have missed the only shot buried from that distance all season, not to mention the fact that the Minutemen were now in a nine point hole.

Despite the fact that UMass fought back almost immediately in the second half and even enjoyed the lead for a portion of the frame, it was game, set and match at that very moment, because with that shot, Barea exemplified what Huskies came to Amherst to do in their game with the Minutemen: dictate the flow of play from whistle to whistle on both ends.

Northeastern did what it wanted, when it wanted and forced UMass into following suit. Yet just when the Minutemen thought it was safe to stop resisting; to let their guard down for final waning seconds of the half, a 5-foot-10 point guard from Puerto Rico reminded them who was truly in charge.

“They went out and played their game,” UMass coach Steve Lappas said. “They did what they wanted to do, and made us play their type of game. We needed to be able to inflict our will on them, and they wouldn’t let us do that.”

Barea, a junior point guard who started all 28 games that he has appeared in as a sophomore for NU, was very much a known commodity for UMass coming into last night’s action, as was backcourt mate Marcus Barnes, a transfer from Miami. Averaging a combined 50 points between them in the Huskies first three games, the explosive pair accounted for 47 of the Huskies 84 points in the win, which didn’t come as a surprise to head coach Steve Lappas after the fourth-year UMass bench boss had been singing the praises of the pair all week.

What did surprise Lappas, however, were the struggles his group experienced on offense – much of which was brought on by the relentless half-court man-to-man defense the Huskies employed. Knowing UMass was a slow-down team that relied on dumping the ball into the post to best utilize star forward Rashaun Freeman, the Huskies stepped up the pace from the game’s first possession.

“They took us out of our game on offense,” senior point guard Anthony Anderson said. “They forced us to play a quick game, and kept us from slowing things down and working for a good shot. They pressured the ball and took away the first pass that we use to get in the offense, forcing us to take quick shots and bad shots.”

The Huskies pressured the ball, pressured away from the ball and forced quick shots. They stepped into the passing lines, battled hard for loose balls and caught UMass’ big men not boxing out on numerous occasions. They wanted to run, and did everything they could to force UMass to run with them.

The end result? UMass finished the game with just one point over the final six-plus minutes, and guards Maurice Maxwell, Chris Chadwick and Art Bowers combined to shoot 6-29 from the floor, including 1-10 from beyond the arc. Additionally, the Huskies forced 19 turnovers and recorded 13 steals and generally created havoc and a sense of recklessness in a usually calm and collected Minuteman offense.

This is not the note this UMass team wanted to end on before beginning a week in which it will face No. 25 Gonzaga, defending National Champion Connecticut and Miami.

“I am very concerned [about the struggles on offense,” Lappas said. “It’s something we need to address, and something we need to fix. This will be a good learning experience for us, and hopefully we’ll be able to build on this as we move along.”