NIU men’s basketball (5-17, 1-9 MAC) dropped its third straight game by a final score of 84-77 to Bowling Green State University (8-14, 3-7 MAC).
“You have to concentrate,” said men’s basketball head coach Rashon Burno. “You have to be ready to play, and I think we got paralyzed in the first four minutes.”
With the Huskies’ road loss to the Falcons on Tuesday, NIU now falls to 0-12 on the road this season. NIU’s last road win came in last season’s finale against the University at Buffalo.
Coming into Tuesday’s game, Bowling Green had lost five games in a row, but were able to snap their streak and extend the Huskies’ losing streak to three games.
This conference matchup featured two of the MAC’s top scorers, senior forward Marcus Johnson of Bowling Green and NIU sophomore guard Quentin Jones.
Johnson entered the game leading the MAC in scoring with 16.8 points per game. The big forward finished as the game’s leading scorer with 22 while also grabbing a game high 13 rebounds.
Jones was the second leading scorer in the game with 19 points to lead the Huskies, and he sat at fourth in the MAC in scoring prior to the game at 16.2 points per game.
The Huskies were unable to control the rebounding game again as they were outrebounded 39-28. Bowling Green also grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and NIU was only able to grab 5.
The Falcons were able to outscore the Huskie 20-4 in second chance points due to their 13 offensive boards.
“Our inability to rebound, I think our rebounding played a part but you also look at our start,” Burno said.
NIU also got into foul trouble throughout the game as junior forward Ethan Butler and junior guard Quaran McPherson fouled out of the game.
Butler garnered an impressive performance before his early exit, totaling 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks.
The Huskies struggled with turnovers in Tuesday’s loss, turning the ball over 12 times, after only turning the ball over five times against the University of Toledo on Saturday, with the Falcons scoring 19 points off turnovers.
“I thought we were a little bit uncharacteristic with turnovers,” Burno said. “Quentin (Jones) had four, and then we had a couple really big possessions where we didn’t get a defensive rebound on a free throw box out in a two point game and we had a few fast breaks where the guards gave it up.”
Besides Jones’ 19 points, three other Huskies finished in double figures.
McPherson extended his double-digit scoring streak to five games with his 18 point performance. Over his last five games, McPherson averages 17.8 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game.
Senior guard James Dent Jr. had another double-digit scoring night, finishing with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Dent has finished in double figures in all but one conference game for the Huskies this season.
UP NEXT
The Huskies will play a non-conference game at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Convocation Center against the University of Louisiana Lafayette for the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+ and live stats will be available via SIDEARM Sports.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” Burno said postgame when asked about the Huskies upcoming matchup. “I think this is one of those moments where you wish you could still stay in the conference, playing February non-conference games means absolutely nothing to the standings. I really haven’t given it any thought.”
