KALAMAZOO, Mich.—With two more road games against Mid-American Conference opponents, NIU might make its good-bye to the MAC permanent on the basketball court.

After an earlier loss this season to NIU, Ball State Coach Al Brown said the Cardinals would not play the Huskies next year because “we want to play other teams.” Toledo Coach Bobby Nichols said he did not want to play NIU during the MAC’s conference season.

Western Michigan Coach Vernon Payne said last night after his team defeated NIU 100-81 he will make a decision on the matter within the next week.

Ball State, Toledo and Western Michigan were the only teams from the MAC the Huskies played in their first season of roundball independence, playing home-and-home with each.

One of NIU’s bug-a-boos all season has been free-throw shooting. But the Huskies have turned that around lately. In last Saturday’s win over Florida International, NIU was 16 of 18 from the line for 88.9 percent.

Last night NIU was 21 of 25 for an .840 average. Western Michigan hit only 19 of 31 free shots, but converted many of those misses into offensive rebounds and buckets.

The 100 points NIU gave up Wednesday night was the highest point total this year. The previous high was 99 by Northern Iowa Jan. 28.