After a successful home stand, the NIU men’s basketball team now takes its show on the road in what will perhaps be the most difficult stretch of the regular season for the Huskies.

NIU (18-2, 9-1) will play its next four games on the road, beginning with Thursday night’s Mid-Continent Conference battle at Valparaiso (5-14, 2-8).

VU’s head coach Homer Drew feels that his Crusaders will need to play their best game of the year to beat NIU, but is looking forward to the challenge.

“It’ll take a near-perfect game to beat NIU, who I feel should be ranked in the top 25 in the nation,” Drew said. “We are looking forward to playing NIU just like NIU was looking forward to playing DePaul.”

The last time that the Huskies and VU hooked up, the Crusaders actually had an 11-point lead in the first half. NIU then regrouped and proceeded to dominate the rest of the game.

“We really shot the ball well in the first half the last time we played them, and only gave them one shot on many of their possessions,” Drew said. “Then they called timeout, tightened up their defense, and blew us out.

“We are going to have to screen harder, cut harder, and hit our open shots. They have bigger, stronger, and quicker guys than us. They are so talented that we have to attack them and execute.”

VU will be looking to sophomore Tracy Gipson and senior Curtiss Stevens to try and slow down an NIU team that is currently on a six-game winning streak, and a seven-game road winning streak.

NIU also had another player receive an award this season as Andrew Wells was named M-C Player of the Week.

Wells averaged 11.6 points and 12.3 rebounds a game during the week. Wells also registered 7 blocked shots in the victory over Western Illinois.

“I’m excited for Andrew,” said NIU head coach Jim Molinari. “Andrew has been playing very well and he’s been playing hard. It’s something he can remember.

“I think it’s a great honor for the team as well. There have been different players getting different honors this season and it’s really just another team honor.”

Molinari has been especially pleased with his team’s performance during the six game win streak, and feels that his team will not be looking past VU to next week’s games at Green Bay and Nebraska.

“Every conference game is worth one game, whether it’s against Valparaiso or Green Bay,” Molinari said. “We have an ‘X’ on our backs now. Teams are going to be shooting for us because we are at the top of the conference.”

“I’ve really been pleased with the team’s effort in the last three games,” Molinari said. “The effort that the players have put out has been tremendous. It has really been a special time.”