Huskies set for first-place battle
First-year Trendon Hankerson dribbles down the court during the Huskies’ 71-60 Jan. 29 victory over the Ohio Bobcats.
February 1, 2019
The men’s basketball team will face-off against the University of Toledo Rockets 2 p.m. Saturday in the Convocation Center in a battle for the No. 1 spot in the Mid-American Conference West Division standings.
The Huskies, with a 12-9 overall and 5-3 MAC record, come into the match-up 2nd in the MAC West standings after defeating the Ohio Bobcats 71-60 Tuesday for Head Coach Mark Montgomery’s 100th career victory. He became the fourth head coach in NIU history to reach 100 wins.
Senior guard Dante Thorpe finished the game with 20 points on 5-6 shooting from the field, 4-4 on 3-pointers and 6-6 on free-throws and junior guard Eugene German tallied 15 points, four rebounds and a season-high six assists in the victory.
Toledo, with a 17-4 overall and 5-3 MAC record, comes into DeKalb winners of five of its last six conference games after back-to-back MAC victories over Central Michigan University Saturday and Miami Tuesday.
NIU ranks second in the MAC and 14th nationally in field goal percentage. The Huskies are first in the conference in opposing field goal percentage.
German enters the match-up second in MAC scoring at 19.9 points per game in conference play, ninth in field goal percentage and seventh in 3-point field goals made per game.
Thorpe is sixth in MAC scoring at 17.3 points per game, fourth in free-throw percentage and second in field goal percentage at 58.6 percent. Senior forward Levi Bradley is first in free-throw percentage in conference play at 95.7 percent.
The Rockets are the top team in the MAC in opponent 2-point percentage, defensive rebounds per game and blocked shots per game.
They send out the No. 1 and No. 2 shot blockers in the conference with freshman forward Aj Edu with two blocks per game and junior center Luke Knapke with 1.2.
Knapke tops the MAC in field goal percentage and senior guard Jaelan Sanford leads Toledo in scoring at 16.3 points.
This will be the first of two match-ups between Toledo and NIU. The teams will play each other again 5 p.m. Feb. 23 in Toledo, Ohio. Saturday’s game will air on ESPN+.