Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas
The (4-10) Northern Illinois Huskies and (7-7) Buffalo Bulls will face off on Saturday at Alumni Arena. The Huskies, 0-1 in Mid-American Conference play, fell 76-51 at Akron on Tuesday. The Bulls, 1-o in MAC competition, defeated Ohio 75-72 in their last game.
Buffalo won both matchups versus Northern Illinois last season. The Bulls are 18-4 all-time against the Huskies.
Tip-off from Buffalo, NY, is at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Northern Illinois is on a downward slide after losing five of its past six, including its conference opener. The Huskies went 4-9 in non-conference play, but they did challenge themselves against the likes of Northwestern, Georgia Tech, and Gonzaga. NIU was picked to finish last in the MAC basketball preseason poll.
In the road loss at Akron, Northern Illinois trailed by just two at halftime but couldn't keep pace with the Zips after the break. The Huskies were outscored 48-25 in the second half and shot just 35.3 percent from the field in the game. NIU was outrebounded and committed 19 turnovers.
Tonight's final score in Akron. pic.twitter.com/0NjGGWRxDB
— NIU Men's Basketball (@GoHuskiesMBB) January 4, 2023
The Huskies score 67.9 points per game and shoot 43.6 percent from the field, including 31.2 percent from long range. They shoot 68.4 percent from the free-throw line and have a negative rebounding margin. NIU is 313th nationally in offensive efficiency adjusted for schedule, per KenPom.
Junior guard Keshawn Williams paces Northern Illinois, scoring 18.8 points on 47.1 percent shooting. The Huskies also count on contributions from sophomore guards David Coit (13.6 PPG) and Zarique Nutter (10.0 PPG and 5.2 RPG).
Northern Illinois gives up 76.2 points per game, and its opponents shoot 45.5 percent from the field, including 33.8 percent from distance. Its schedule-adjusted defensive efficiency rating is ranked 275th, and its assist-per-turnover ratio (0.57) is the sixth-worst in D-1.