NIU men’s basketball (5-20, 1-11 MAC) dropped its sixth-straight game on Saturday, losing an overtime thriller to the Ball State University Cardinals (13-12, 6-6 MAC) by a score of 89-83.

The Huskies trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half but were able to rally back, forcing overtime due to the help of several players. 

“It was a better second half than first half,” said men’s basketball head coach Rashon Burno. 

NIU had strong performances from sophomore guard Quentin Jones and senior guard James Dent Jr., who each posted at least 20 points in the starting lineup. 

Jones, the MAC’s leading scorer this season, collected his eighth 20- point performance this year as he finished the night with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. 

Jones also hit two clutch free throws at the end of regulation to tie the game and force overtime. 

Dent, the Huskies’ second leading scorer on the season, scored 20 points in the overtime loss, marking his eighth-straight game in double figures. 

NIU also got a lot of help from their bench, as redshirt freshman forward Tsvet Sotirov, graduate student guard Joe Munden Jr. and junior guard Steven Tipton all made contributions off the bench in the second half. 

Sotirov scored a season high 14 points off the bench and he scored all of his points in the second half and overtime. Sotirov went 4/9 from three and also added 5 rebounds to his stat sheet. 

“I’m extremely happy with him (Sotirov),” Burno said. “He hasn’t shot well the last four or five games, and we knew going in, he was a matchup for us that we can exploit, especially when they played (Peyton) Sparks at the five.”

Tipton, a guard who has seen extremely limited minutes this year and throughout his entire NIU career, saw significant playing time in the second half and overtime.

Tipton totaled a season high in points, minutes, field goals made, field goals attempted, 3-point field goals made, 3-point field goals attempted, free throws made, free throw attempts and rebounds in 16 minutes of play.

The junior guard’s 9 points were not only a season high, but was a career high by 4 points. Tipton’s previous career high  was against Central Michigan University last March, in which he posted 5 points. 

“I’m praising these guys for being ready,” Burno said. “Steven comes in, he doesn’t miss practice, he’s on scout team, so I’m not shocked that he can come in. The moment is never too big for Tipton.”

The Huskies also faced problems with injuries during the game, as well as losing multiple players due to foul trouble.

Junior forward Ethan Butler left the game with 6:26 left in the first half with an apparent left foot injury. 

Butler returned to the Huskies’ bench in the second half, wearing street clothes and a walking boot on his left foot, marking the end of his night.

Junior guard Quaran McPherson was also injured in Saturday’s game, suffering an apparent injury to his right shoulder causing him to miss the remainder of the game. 

McPherson and Butler were both members of the starting lineup for the Huskies against Ball State, and both players saw less than 15 minutes on the court in the loss. 

Several Huskies also missed significant time during the game due to foul trouble.

Most notably, freshman forward Jayden Mott fouled out of the game in just 7 minutes of playing time. Mott did not record any stats for the game aside from 2 turnovers. 

Munden also fouled out of the game after putting together a statline of 9 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal. 

The Huskies also had four other players finish the game with at least three fouls, and as a team, the Huskies committed 30 fouls. NIU’s sloppy play led to Ball State attempting 50 costly free throws. 

“I thought the officiating was inconsistent,” Burno said. “When a team shoots 50 free throws, there’s just no flow, no rhyme or reason to some of the stuff they were calling or not calling. It was fun to watch as a fan, but extremely frustrating to coach.”

UP NEXT

The Huskies’ next matchup will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Akron, Ohio, taking on the University of Akron. Live stats will be available via SIDEARM Sports and the game will be broadcasted via ESPN+.