DeKALB – When NIU men’s basketball led by double-digits at home against an 8-17 Sun Belt Conference team, it seemed the Huskies were on track to achieve an exceedingly rare feat: being successful in a season that’s been anything but.
For 20 minutes, the Huskies looked like the better team on the court as they sparred with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the second round of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.
But that success never made it to the final buzzer.
Instead, the Huskies (5-18, 1-9 MAC) lost their bite in the second half – getting outscored 38-25 in the game’s final 20 minutes – en route to a 66-64 loss to the Ragin’ Cajuns (8-17, 5-7 SBC) on Saturday inside the Convocation Center. The defeat is their fourth-consecutive and their ninth in the past 10 games.
Head coach Rashon Burno said his squad “didn’t come out with the right mindset” in the second half, while sophomore guard Quentin Jones said the team’s “energy dropped.” As to why either would have deteriorated, neither the coach nor his players could provide a solid explanation – only an assertion that the outcome would’ve been different had they stayed consistent.
“We didn’t put the whole game together,” junior guard Quaran McPherson said. “If we had put the whole game together, we would have definitely beat them, so that’s on us.”
In a matchup that marked the teams’ first-ever meeting, NIU sprung out to a quick 9-2 lead before building up to a 21-9 advantage with 13:27 left in the first half. The Huskies shot 42.9% from the field – compared to Louisiana’s 33.3% – and had a 22-19 rebounding advantage in the opening frame to lead 39-28 at the break.
“The ball was probably moving a little more; we were more unselfish,” McPherson said. “That’s why we got off to a good start, and that’s why we had the lead.”
From there, the Huskies got sloppy. They made just 26.1% of their field goal attempts after halftime and shot 25% from beyond the arc. Starting with its final make of the first half, Louisiana ripped off a 13-0 to tie the contest at 39-all less than four minutes into the second. As Jones put it best, the visitors “punched first, and they kept punching.”
Though NIU’s second-half field-goal shooting was just as frigid as the freezing temperatures outside the Convo, it was the live-ball turnovers that served as the catalyst for the Ragin Cajuns’ fiery comeback. NIU coughed up possession eight times in the final 20 minutes.
The Huskies were also hampered by their inability to sustain runs and deposit easy scores – from missed layups by McPherson and sophomore guard Nasir Muhammad to a missed dunk by junior forward Ethan Butler.
“We couldn’t get back on track, because now you almost get shocked that the other team is ready to compete, and so we reacted that way,” Burno said.
McPherson finished as the top dog in the losing effort with a game-leading 19 points. Meanwhile, Jones and senior guard James Dent Jr. each produced identical 14-point outings. Jones also logged a game-best eight rebounds and four assists.
With the loss, the Huskies drop to 2-18 against Division I opponents this season – their fourth under Burno’s direction. The former Arizona State University assistant was asked postgame if he feels pressured to perform better in the final eight games of the regular season.
“No,” Burno said. “I don’t feel pressure at all.”
NIU will resume Mid-American Conference play at 6 p.m. Tuesday as it hosts the University at Buffalo for its Black History Month Celebration inside the Convocation Center. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+, with live statistics provided by SIDEARM Sports.
