The Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team will look for its fourth consecutive road win on Saturday, Feb. 4, as the Huskies travel to Bowling Green. Game time against the Falcons is slated for 4 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN3, along with 94-9 WDKB and The Varsity Network app.
NIU is coming off a 73-59 victory at Western Michigan on Tuesday night (Jan. 31). Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill.) scored a team-high 15 points as the Huskies won their fourth game in the last five and hit the halfway point in Mid-American Conference play with a 5-4 league mark, good for fifth in the conference standings.
The victory at Western Michigan was NIU’s fifth road win overall this season, tied for the most in the MAC with Ball State, Kent State and Toledo. David Coit (Columbus, N.J.) and Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J.) each scored 13 points in the win, with Coit also grabbing a career-best eight rebounds.
Coit is currently ranked 11th in the league in scoring at 15.7 points per game but is averaging 19.9 points per contest in the last seven games, a stretch in which the Huskies have gone 5-2.
Darweshi Hunter (Cincinnati, Ohio) had nine points and a career-best eight rebounds in Tuesday’s win at Western Michigan. Hunter is one of three Huskies that rank in the top-20 in the MAC in three-point shooting. Thornton is third at 44.3 percent, Hunter is ninth at 41 percent and Coit is 17th at 37.5 percent.
The Falcons come into Saturday’s contest with a 10-12 overall record, including a 4-5 mark in league play, tied for sixth in the standings with Buffalo. Bowling Green is coming off a 69-60 setback against Ball State on Tuesday night (Jan. 31).
Four players score in double figures for Bowling Green, led by 18.5 points per game from Leon Ayers III, fourth-best in the MAC. Bowling Green ranks second in the MAC, and 33rd nationally, with 13.4 fastbreak points per game. The Falcons also rank second in the league, and 39th in the country, shooting 75.2 percent from the free-throw line.
