Leave it to the city of Cleveland to add a sobering element to the Huskies’ recent string of spotlight games.

Just as some of the focus surrounding NIU’s men’s basketball team recently has been centering on a possible NCAA Tournament bid, Cleveland State invades Chick Evans Field House Saturday at 7:00 p.m. to remind everyone that there are three regular-season games left.

Fresh from big games against Mid-Continent Conference rival Wisconsin-Green Bay and 14th-ranked Nebraska, the Huskies face first-year coach Mike Boyd’s Vikings.

“We have been playing up and down of late,” Boyd said of his 12-12 squad (8-5 in the Mid-Continent). “(But) we’ve had some people step up.”

Cleveland State will need to step up to challenge the 20-4 Huskies, who continue to lead the Mid-Continent with an 11-2 mark.

“Anytime you play anybody above you, you want to win,” Boyd said. “We’re not waiting for the Mid-Continent Tournament, we feel it’s a new season.”

In the first meeting between the squads in late January, the Huskies nipped Cleveland State 59-44. NIU’s Andrew Wells hit the Vikings for 21 points and nine rebounds.

“We were surprised. He (Wells) was the one that hurt us, but we were flat,” Boyd said. “The game here was pretty close before we allowed Northern to have a big run.”

uskies’ coach Jim Molinari is wary of the threat the Vikings pose.

“Against Cleveland State we have to really play well. They’re good enough that if we don’t play well they can beat us,” Molinari said.

With Wisconsin-Green Bay, 89-81 overtime winners over UIC Thursday night, moving to 10-3 in the M-C and breathing down the first-place Huskies’ necks, Saturday’s conference game has added importance.

“We’ll see how we react down the stretch,” Molinari said. “We have to play well if we want to be the out-right conference champion.”

Saturday’s match, along with Monday’s game against Akron, is the last chance for spectators to see the NIU team in person. After the Huskies’ last two road games, both in front of roaring packed houses, Molinari would like to see the same kind of turnout at the fieldhouse.

“I’m a competitor, if people tell me Northern Illinois isn’t like (the University of) Illinois academically, I’m going to say it is,” Molinari said. “(And after) being at Nebraska and Green Bay; I hope we’ll have the same atmosphere.”