Barea, Barnes win top awards at basketball banquet
Barea led the team in scoring (22.2 ppg), assists (7.3 apg) and steals (1.8 spg) this season. He earned first team All-America East honors for the second year in a row. With his assist average ranking fifth in the country and his points per game putting him eighth in the NCAA, Barea is the first player since Long Island University's Charles Jones in 1997-98 to appear in the top 10 in both categories.
Barea joins Bill Colby (1956-58), Pete Harris (1979-81), Reggie Lewis (1985-87) and Marcus Blossom (1999-2001) as the only three-time team most valuable players.
Barnes was second on the team in scoring (15.9 ppg) and first in three-pointers made (79). He landed a spot on the all-conference third team. Barnes leaves Northeastern with the sixth-highest career scoring average (16.4 ppg) in school history.
The team's Most Improved Player Award went to sophomore guard Bobby Kelly, freshman forward/center Mark Washington and junior forward Janon Cole. Kelly was also named the winner of the team's Scholar-Athlete Award. Junior guard Aaron Davis garnered Six Man Award and Comeback Player of the Year honors, splitting the latter with sophomore guard Adrian Martinez.
The Huskies enjoyed one of their best seasons in recent memory in 2004-05, going 21-10 overall and 15-3 in America East. They reached the conference championship game and made their first appearance in the National Invitation Tournament.
April 14, 2005
Colonnade Hotel (Boston, Mass.)Junior guard Jose Juan Barea was named team MVP for the third straight year and senior guard Marcus Barnes earned Outstanding Player honors at the basketball banquet Wednesday night at the Colonnade Hotel.
