GREEN BAY, Wis.—Some observers felt that the Huskies’ biggest obstacle in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament would be their first-round game against Illinois-Chicago.

After Sunday’s 77-52 rout of the Flames, the Huskies hope that turns out to be true.

NIU built a commanding early lead and had no trouble holding off the team it stuggled with Thursday.

The Huskies had to rely on Mike Hidden’s last-minute shot to beat UIC 71-70 in Thursday’s game.

The payoff for that win was the Mid-Continent Conference title and the No. 1 seed position. The Flames, by virtue of their eighth-place finish, got a chance for revenge against NIU.

But it was the Huskies who came out with fire in their eyes Sunday.

Mike Hidden nailed consecutive 3-pointers in the game’s first six minutes to put NIU up 16-4. The Huskies continued to assault the Flames for the rest of the half, putting aside any notions UIC had of stopping NIU’s run for the M-C postseason title and the automatic NCAA bid that goes with it.

“They outplayed us and deserved to win Thursday,” NIU head coach Jim Molinari said. “The key (Sunday) was that in the first half we played NIU basketball.”

Donnell Thomas muscled his way in for a layup with a minute left in the opening half of “NIU basketball” to give the Huskies a 19-point lead. At intermission, the Huskies led 36-16 and had outrebounded UIC 17-4.

“You’re not going to win too many basketball games with that kind of rebounding,” understated UIC head coach Bob Hallberg.

The Flames tried to quicken the tempo of the game in the second half and had some success with a variety of presses and traps.

NIU finished with an uncharacteristic 24 turnovers.

But UIC failed to capitalize on the NIU mistakes to seriously threaten the Huskies’ lead.

The closest the Flames would get was a 42-32 deficit on a Tony Freeman free throw with six minutes gone in the half. Donald Whiteside responded to UIC’s threat by sinking a 3-pointer and a layup to put NIU’s lead back to a comfortable 49-32 margin.

The Huskies continued to extend their lead the entire half. NIU’s 20-point advantage at the end was the biggest lead of the game.

The win gives NIU a 24-4 season mark going into Monday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal match with Northern Iowa, who beat Cleveland State 79-75 in overtime during Sunday’s first-round game.

The Huskies’ No. 2 nationally ranked defense held the Flames (15-15) to a 24 percent shooting percentage for the game.

UIC’s Tony Freeman was kept largely in check, ending with 15 points, but hitting only two of 10 from the floor.

“We didn’t come out and execute,” Freeman said. “Tonight we came out a little slow and lacking in intensity.”

UIC’s slow start was not what the Huskies expected.

“We were surprised. They usually come out a lot more intense,” Whiteside said. “They did pick it up later, but we were surprised.”

What didn’t surprise the Huskies was their chilly reception by the Green Bay fans at Brown County arena, home of NIU’s arch-rival Wisconsin-Green Bay.

“That’s what we expect,” Molinari said. “That’s why it’ll be tough to win here. It’s like playing on the road.”

If the Huskies win Monday, they will advance to the Championship game, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

A confident Thomas made it clear that the Huskies expect to still be playing basketball after Monday.

“We have to get used to (the crowd),” Thomas said. “We’re going to be here for a couple of days.”