DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team will play its final home game for over a month on Monday night, Nov. 14, when the Huskies host Purdue Northwest. Game time against the Pride is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be available via ESPN+ as well as on radio at 94-9 WDKB and on The Varsity Network app.
Tickets for Monday’s contest are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets, including the Huskie “HOWL-idays” package good for Monday’s contest, Tuesday and Thursday’s women’s basketball home games and the NIU football game on Wednesday night for just $40.
NIU comes into Monday’s game on the back of a 63-46 setback last Friday (Nov. 11) at Northwestern. The Huskies trailed the Wildcats by just five with a little under 11 minutes to play before a Northwestern run helped lead the home team to victory.
Keshawn Williams (Chicago Heights, Ill./Tulsa) scored a game-high 19 points at Northwestern and currently leads the Huskies in scoring at 21.0 points per game. Williams is shooting 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the free-throw line to start the season.
Three players returned to the lineup for NIU at Northwestern and made their Huskie debuts, including Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J./Clarendon College) who started and scored seven points with a team-best eight rebounds. Xavier Amos (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) and Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia/Seward County CC) also saw their first action against the Wildcats.
Purdue Northwest opened the season with a pair of victories over Rockhurst and William Jewell. The Pride topped Rockhurst, 85-76, in its season opener on Friday (Nov. 11) before claiming a 77-62 win over William Jewell on Saturday (Nov. 12). Mikell Cooper is leading the way for Purdue Northwest at 18.5 points per game. Anthony Barnard was named to the Preseason All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team; he led Purdue Northwest in scoring at 14.0 points per game last season.
This will be the first all-time meeting between NIU and Purdue Northwest.
Following Monday’s contest, NIU will begin a stretch of eight games away from home, starting with a trip to Georgia Tech on Thursday, Nov. 17. Game time against the Yellow Jackets is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and will be available on the ACC Network.
