BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team saw its three-game road winning streak end on Tuesday night as the Huskies fell at Buffalo, 65-45, in Alumni Arena. Senior Aaric Armstead led NIU with 12 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh career double-double.
Buffalo (12-12, 6-5 MAC) held the Huskies to just 32.1 percent (18-of-56) shooting while the Bulls shot 44.9 percent (22-of-49) in the contest, including 55.6 percent (15-of-27), in the second half.
Freshman Eugene German was the second Huskie in double figures with 10 points.
Buffalo raced out to a 14-4 lead to open the contest; NIU (14-10, 6-5 MAC) answered with the next six to trim the Buffalo lead to just four. Sophomore Jaylen Key opened the run for the Huskies with a basket, German then made a layup and was fouled, the Huskie freshman missed the free throw but Armstead dunked home the offensive rebound to cut the Bulls lead to 14-10.
The UB lead was a half-dozen until a layup from sophomore Levi Bradley and a corner triple from sophomore Austin Pauga pulled the Huskies within one, 18-17, with just over four minutes to play in the opening half.
Buffalo’s lead grew back to three before German finished three-straight dribble-drive layups as NIU took a 23-20 lead with just under two minutes to play in the opening half.
The Bulls outscored NIU 5-2 to close the half as NIU and Buffalo went into the intermission tied, 25-25.
Buffalo opened the second half with a 14-2 run as the Bulls took a 39-27 lead in the first seven minutes of the second half.
NIU scored the next five as the Huskies trimmed the Buffalo lead to seven. Armstead opened the burst with a baskets, sophomore Laytwan Porter added a free throw and Key made a pair from the stripe as Buffalo led 39-32 with just under 12 minutes to play.
With the Bulls still leading by seven, Buffalo used a 9-0 run to take a 50-34 lead. NIU answered with the next eight as Armstead scored a half-dozen and senior Marin Maric added a pair of free throws to cut the Buffalo lead to 50-42 with just over six minutes left, but that was as close as the Huskies would get as Buffalo used a 13-2 run to put the game out of reach.
C.J. Massinburg led all scorers with 17 for Buffalo, 15 of which came in the second half, Nick Perkins added 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls.
NIU will be back on the road on Saturday, Feb. 11, when the Huskies travel to Western Michigan. Game time against the Broncos is slated for 6 p.m. CT.
