DeKALB – Before Saturday’s Mid-American Conference clash between NIU and Western Michigan University got underway, plenty of excitement had already taken place inside the Convocation Center.
Minutes before NIU men’s basketball began pregame warm-ups, the women’s team completed a double-overtime thriller that featured a buzzer-beating tip-in to end regulation and a fiery outburst that led to the ejection of the opposing head coach.
Even so, the men’s game created its own excitement, as the Huskies (5-24, 1-15 MAC) erased a 15-point first-half deficit to battle the Broncos (11-18, 8-8 MAC) down to the wire in hopes of ending their month-long win drought. Instead, NIU came up short and extended its longest losing skid of the season to 10 games.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,” head coach Rashon Burno said postgame. “We were 4-for-11 from the free throw line – uncharacteristic from that regard. But this is down at the end of the season, when you’re banged up and your margin of error is slim. Everyone has to step up, and I thought we had the right intentions at times.”
Sophomore guard Quentin Jones orchestrated NIU’s scoring efforts for the fifth time in six games. The Chicago native had 58.8% shooting to lead the game with 25 points – three shy of tying his best single-game high of 28.
Redshirt freshman forward Tsvet Sotirov was the Huskies’ only other double-digit scorer, logging 10 points to go with eight rebounds. Senior guard James Dent Jr. had 9 points and a team-best six assists.
In what has been a common trend this season, NIU started the game behind the 8-ball, as Western Michigan built a 17-4 lead in just under five minutes of play. The visiting Broncos out-shot (54.5% to 46.4%) and out-rebounded (19 to 12) the Huskies, putting NIU down 43-34 at halftime.
Once the teams returned from the break, the Huskies fired off a 10-3 run to trim their deficit to one score, trailing 46-44 with 16:16 left.
“We started making shots,” Jones said. “Defense played a part in that, too. We had to make adjustments and figure out how to make them miss. And after that, we had to rebound.”
NIU kept fighting to tie the game at 53 with 13:05 left before taking two 1-point leads. Western Michigan quickly jumped back in front and spent the next 7 minutes creating separation, going up as much as 10 points with 4:33 to go.
NIU battled back to return the game to a one-score difference for the final 1:37. However, a pair of missed 3-pointers and a free throw proved costly in the end, leaving the Huskies empty-handed once again.
“We were uncharacteristic, just throwing the ball all over the floor in key moments,” Burno said. “But that happens when your guard play isn’t where it needs to be, and you don’t have a guard that can create for Quentin and Dent.”
With two games left in the regular season, Burno wants to see his squad continue to compete and to send off his senior class with one last victory on home court.
“We’re going to send these guys out and try to go out with a win, especially being the home last game,” Burno said. “But for 80 minutes, we’re going to go out, and we’re going to give it our all.”
NIU will host Bowling Green State University for its Senior Night at 6 p.m. Tuesday inside the Convocation Center. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with live statistics available on SIDEARM Sports.
