Northern Illinois will try to bounce back from a disappointing season-opening loss when it travels to Northwestern on Friday night. The Huskies dropped their opener to Division II University of Illinois-Springfield on Monday night in a game that did not have a Vegas point spread. Northwestern opened the year with an 85-54 win against Chicago State on Monday.
Northern Illinois is hoping to rebound after a disastrous start to the season. The Huskies lost to Illinois-Springfield on Monday night, as they were without four players due to various injuries and illnesses. Springfield shot 60% from the floor in the second half, including 50% from 3-point range, outscoring the Huskies by seven points following the intermission. David Coit led Northern Illinois (and all scorers) with 31 points, while Keshawn Williams added 23 points, knocking down 8 of 10 attempts from the charity stripe. The Huskies were also outrebounded 43-30 in the loss, so they have many things to improve on in this matchup.
Heading to the city on Friday!
??:https://t.co/LfsYx1GeaK pic.twitter.com/vpjOsioeZk— NIU Men's Basketball (@GoHuskiesMBB) November 10, 2022
Coit led the nation in scoring at the NJCAA Division III level last season, averaging 30.6 points per game, so it was good for the team to see that success transfer over to this level. He reached the 30-point mark 15 times last year and had three games of 40-plus points. Williams scored 32 points against Bowling Green last season for Northern Illinois’ lone 30-point performance. He was an All-MAC honorable mention performer last year, averaging 16.3 points per game. Coit and Williams are joined by senior guard Kaleb Thornton, senior guard Darweshi Hunter and senior forward Anthony Crump in the starting lineup.