Freshman guard Marshawn Wilson has been a consistent player off the bench for men’s basketball, leading the team in scoring six times this season.

Wilson is shooting 45 percent on the season and averaging 17.4 minutes per game. He tied and set new career-highs in points in two recent contests against Miami University on Jan. 30 and Buffalo University on Feb. 2.

He scored all but four of NIU’s 28 bench points in the loss to Miami. Wilson came into the game and scored 24 points in 23 minutes, including 6-9 on three-pointers and 8-13 shooting from the field. The guard tied his previous career-high in points and knocked down two of his three free throw attempts.

Wilson set a career-high in points with 25 in 30 minutes in the Huskies’ loss to Buffalo. He shot 50 percent from beyond the arc and for the game, sinking two of his four three-point attempts and going 7-14 from the field. The freshman also scored half of the bench’s 50 points in the game.

Wilson is fourth on the team in points and third in scoring, averaging 11.1 points per game. He is shooting 41 percent on three-pointers this season, proving to be a legit threat from deep. He also has the ability to get hot quickly, as seen when he went 6-9 from behind the arc in the Miami game.

Whenever Wilson comes into the game, he brings a certain energy to the team. The freshman is the one in the middle of the huddle dancing and setting the mood before every game after lineups are announced, getting the rest of his teammates hyped. It seems as if he has a special dance with each of them to help get the team excited every night.

Wilson smiles a lot and genuinely seems to enjoy playing the game of basketball all the time.

The Huskies will need him and his energy to finish off the season strong. The team often depends on its defense when its offense is struggling, and Wilson always seems to be there to pick things up for the team when the going gets tough.