NIU men’s basketball’s (5-16, 1-8 MAC) late rally came up short as the Huskies fell to the University of Toledo Rockets (13-8, 7-2 MAC) by a score of 89-85 on Saturday.
NIU trailed by 13 points with 2:24 left in the game before rallying to within one, but was unable to take the lead.
The second half showed promise for the Huskies, as they shot the ball well and played tough defense, holding the Rockets to just 28.6% shooting and 16.7% shooting from three.
Despite Toledo’s poor shooting performance in the second half, the Rockets were able to maintain their lead thanks to 16 personal fouls from the Huskies which lead to 22 of Toledo’s 39 second half points coming from the charity stripe.
“It was a really good game to be a part of,” said NIU men’s basketball head coach Rashon Burno. “I thought, in the second half, if you look at the numbers, we gave ourselves a chance to win.”
The free throw disparity in Saturday’s game played a big role in the Huskies’ loss, as the Rockets shot 33-for-38 from the free throw line while the Huskies shot just 7-for-13.
The Huskies were also unable to control the glass, losing the rebound battle to Toledo 49-33. Sophomore forward Javan Simmons was the leading rebounder for Toledo, grabbing 12 boards.
Despite the loss, the Huskies had four players score at least 15 points.
Junior guard Quaran McPherson had 13 first half points and extended his double-digit scoring streak to a season long four games.
“Just being consistent in my ability and just leaving everything out on the court and letting the work show,” McPherson said. “Being confident I can score against anybody. Also my teammates pushing me to be the best player I can be when I have the ball.”
McPherson finished the game as NIU’s second leading scorer with 20 points, his fourth such game this season.
Sophomore guard Nasir Muhammad led the Huskies in scoring, finishing with 21 points on 6-for-8 shooting from three. This was Muhammad’s second game of 20 or more points this year, tying his season high.
“The key for Nasir (Muhammad) is health,” Burno said. “If he’s healthy, he’s getting reps, and he’s practicing and he’s learning from his mistakes. He’s had a choppy year and a half with us with injuries, but he is a solid player.”
Muhammed also had an important play late in the game for NIU. As he was falling out of bounds, a loose ball ricocheted toward him and, as he was sitting on the court, he was able to find senior guard James Dent Jr. in the corner who hit a three to make it a one point game.
“I was just trying to get myself back in bounds and just make a play,” Muhammad said. “Once I saw the ball coming my way, in my peripheral, I saw JD (James Dent Jr.) in the corner and I got the ball to him and he knocked down the shot.”
Sophomore guard Quentin Jones contributed 18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks in the game. Jones is averaging 1.1 blocks per game on the season and 1.2 steals per game.
Dent finished his night with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks.
The Huskies next game will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available via SIDEARM Stats.