Rodney Davis shoots for his 1,000th career point Thursday night when the NIU men’s basketball team tries to end its nine-game losing streak.

Davis, who leads the Huskies in scoring (17.1 ppg), assists (71) and steals (23), needs 12 points to become the 15th player in school history to score 1,000 points.

Florida International will oppose the Huskies in the 7:05 battle. The Golden Panthers, whose 5-13 record puts them a few percentage points ahead of NIU (4-15) in the battle to avoid last place among independent schools, split last season’s two-game series with the Huskies.

NIU head coach Jim Rosborough characterized FIU as an “uptempo team,” especially backcourt starters David Banks and Ronnie Bryant. Banks scored 33 points on 8-of-9 shooting from three-point range in two games against NIU last year.

But Rosborough’s major concern was how to handle Golden Panther center Carlton Phoenix. The 6-foot-6 senior pivot man dominated the Huskie front line in FIU’s home victory a year ago. Phoenix grabbed 22 rebounds and scored 23 points in leading the Golden Panthers to an 86-83 win.

Rosborough indicated former starter Randy Norman would not see much playing time until his performance at practices improved. The second-year coach said he has no personal vendetta against Norman and “those people that are doing the job will play.”

Though the Huskies are going downhill faster than Franz Klammer, Rosborough said the team should be ready to turn things around.

“I would think they would be so eager to be home and play hard and let the chips fall where they may,” Rosborough said. “We haven’t won a lot of ballgames, but we haven’t folded up the tent either.”