The Northern Illinois Huskies are on the road Monday to play the Marquette Golden Eagles in the first game of the college basketball regular season for both teams. Last season, Northern Illinois finished 13-19 overall and 9-9 in Mid-American Conference action. The Huskies finished 7th in the MAC standings.Marquette finished last season 29-7 overall and 17-3 in the Big East. Marquette was first in the Big East two games ahead of Xavier. Neither team has any players listed on its injury report.
The Northern Illinois Huskies will be in a rebuild mode for the 2023-24 season with only three starters returning from last season. The top returners from last season are guards Anthony Crump and Kaleb Thornton. Last season Thornton scored an average of 8.8 points per game and Crump scored an average of 7.7 points per game. Thornton was the leader in assists for the Huskies at 5.3 per game and Crump was the leader in rebounds at 5.1 per game.
The other returning starter, Darweshi Hunter was not as productive as the other two but will once again contribute this season. Northern Illinois added St Bonaventure transfer Oluwasegun Durosinmi, who will help in the paint on the boards and protect the rim. Expectations are not high in Northern Illinois and an 8th or 9th place finish is expected by the Huskies.