815-561-8255 Request Line
Watch LIVE High School Sports

Upcoming Events

Friday, Mar 22, 10:00 AM
Saturday, Mar 23, 11:00 AM
Saturday, Mar 23, 6:15 PM
Saturday, Mar 30, 8:00 AM
Saturday, Mar 30, 10:45 AM

Social Media

Find us on Facebook Follow us on X















NIU's home winning streak ends last night

DEKALB, Ill. -- The Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team saw its 15-game home win streak come to an end on Tuesday night as the Huskies fell, 70-78, to Buffalo at the NIU Convocation Center. The Bulls raced out to a 14-0 advantage and never trailed in the contest as NIU falls to 16-6 overall, 5-4 in Mid-American Conference play.

Freshman Marshawn Wilson  scored a career-high 25 points, sophomore Marin Maric  recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds and freshman Jaylen Key posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“If you are a road team and you come out with a great start like Buffalo did, it makes you feel comfortable,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “Credit Buffalo, they came out swinging and it was like we were still in the locker room. They shot the ball extremely well early on, they cooled off in the second half but we just couldn’t get started.

“We came out in the second half and we were more aggressive, we cut the lead to one, but they out in transition, they made a play, they made another play and a one-point lead became an eight or nine-point lead, we just couldn’t slow them down.”

The contest featured 61 total fouls with Buffalo going 32-of-44 (72.7 percent) from the free-throw line and NIU going 30-of-40 (75 percent) from the charity stripe.

Buffalo (13-9, 6-3) jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the opening five minutes to put the Huskies in a hole early on.

The Bulls pushed their lead to 18 in the first half, leading 38-20, before NIU used a 14-2 run to trim the lead to just a half-dozen. Maric opened the burst for the Huskies with a pair of free throws, Wilson scored NIU’s next five, freshman Levi Bradley  added an old-fashioned three-point play, Key made a bucket and Wilson added two more from the line as the Huskies trimmed Buffalo’s advantage to 40-34 with 2:31 left before the intermission.

A 7-3 burst helped Buffalo push its lead to back to double-digits but a pair of free throws from both Maric and senior Chuks Iroegbu  brought the Huskies back within six, 47-41, at the break.

NIU opened the second stanza with an old-fashioned three-point play from Maric and a basket by Key as the Huskies trimmed the Buffalo lead to just one, 47-46, but the Bulls responded with an 11-0 run to take a 58-46 lead with 16:40 left.

The Huskies scored seven of the next nine, on five from Wilson and a pair from Key, to trim the Buffalo lead back to just seven, 60-53, but the Bulls answered with the next nine, taking a 69-53 lead with 13:52 to go.

Lamonte Bearden scored 23 points to lead the Bulls, C.J. Massinburg added 16 points while Willie Conner and Nick Perkins each added 14 for Buffalo.

NIU will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 6, as the Huskies travel to Athens, Ohio to begin a two-game road swing at Ohio. Game time against the Bobcats is slated for 1 p.m. CT.

Comments

Download the App Today!

Download the Apple app today
Download the Google Play app today
Closings and Cancellations
Copyright © 2024 Superhits 93.5. All Rights Reserved.
Public File
FCC Applications
Site by RiverBender.com