Soap operas are generally restricted to television, but the NIU men’s basketball team has provided its own version on and off the court this season.

Off the court, junior forward Jim Edmondson was arrested Wednesday for punching teammate Tom Sellers’ jaw in the locker room. Sellers’ jaw was broken in two places, and he might be out for the year. Edmondson and sophomore center Scott Sullivan were suspended for two games for their part in the incident.

Also, senior guard Jerry Williams is academically ineligible for the spring semester because he failed to meet NIU’s 2.0 grade point average requirement.

These recent developments follow earlier Huskie departures. Daron White quit before the season opener and Kenny Battle transfered last summer to Illinois.

“There isn’t anything else conceivably that can happen to this team,” said NIU Coach Jim Rosborough.

On the court, NIU is 5-11. The Huskies enter the second half of the season after defeating Northern Iowa 83-72 Saturday.

“I just told them (the players) until Wednesday at 2:00 or 2:15, we were on the brink of getting done what we wanted,” said Rosborough. “One incident has certainly put a cloud over the hard work these kids have done. Unless the people (Huskies) get themselves righted pretty soon, there will be some heartache February 28, with some people wearing the uniform for the last time.”

With these off-court events, NIU will have only nine players available for Wednesday’s game against Western Illinois and 11 the remainder of the season—unless Sellers returns.

The Huskie backcourt has been reduced to five players: three juniors and two freshman. Brett Andricks will have to ease back into the line-up after a back injury. NIU will have only four players in the frontcourt Wednesday and six after that.

On the court, NIU has struggled for consistency. Rosborough said non-stop defensive pressure is needed to stabilize the team.

“Defense is nothing but hard work,” said Rosborough. “The enemy is the opponent, and sometimes we don’t show that. We’re giving up too many points on the defensive end. The strength is in the offensive end.”

Guard Rodney Davis leads the Huskies with 12.5 points per game, followed by center John Culbertson’s 11.8 ppg.

NIU’s up-and-down pattern of intensity can be seen in a strong showing against Rollins College, a 93-64 victory, followed by an 87-74 loss to Southern Illinois. Rosborough labeled that loss as the most disappointing during break.

“If we are not mature enough to realize that beating Rollins is not winning the NCAA championship, that means it’s going to be a long year,” Rosborough said after the SIU game. “They (the Salukis) wanted the game more. We’ve talked about coming in here ready, and we didn’t.”

NIU came back diving and scratching for loose balls in a 81-79 loss to Kansas State, which was 7-2 entering the game. Rosborough wrote “The new Huskies have arrived” on a chalkboard after that game.

“That’s all I can ask out of these kids,” he said. “This is how we want our kids to play. I’m proud to be the coach of this team tonight.”

NIU has 12 games remaining, six on the road and six at home. The Huskies play at the Rockford MetroCentre Feb. 10 against Drake, and the other five will be played at Chick Evans Field House.