Men’s basketball (5-0, 0-0 MAC) continued its hot start to the season with an 87-55 win over Indiana Northwest (3-4) on Wednesday night.

The Redhawks played a physical game with NIU, attacking the Huskies whenever they attempted to attack the paint. NIU countered the Redhawks by drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line. The Huskies shot 78.9 percent (15-19) from the free throw line in the second half and 72.4 percent (21-29) for the game.

NIU’s defense picked up right where it left off in its last game. The team held Indiana Northwest to 27.1 percent (19-70) shooting for the game and scored 12 points off of 13 Redhawk turnovers. The Huskies continued their work on the boards, grabbing 57 boards to the Redhawks 38. Senior guard Travon Baker led the team with 10 rebounds.

Sophomore center Marin Maric scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting from the field. Freshman forward Jaylen Key was one rebound shy of a double double, scoring 12 points on 5-7 shooting and grabbing nine boards. Junior guard Michael Orris added 10 points and five rebounds.

Head coach Mark Montgomery did not think it was the team’s best performance, but was happy with the 30 point win.

“I just thought that we played a little sluggish,” he said. “But we really got it going in the second half and we made a statement. I thought both teams played hard but I know we can play better.”

Junior guard Aaric Armstead scored 11 points in just over two minutes early in the second half. He said he wanted to come out aggressive in the game.

“Obviously it wasn’t just me, it was my teammates,” he said. “Michael Orris got me a lot of shots. Travon [Baker] got me a lot of shots, a lot of open shots. We talked in the locker room about coming out aggressive and not playing to the level of the competition, not settling, not being complacent with where we were.” Armstead led all Huskies in the game with 22 points.

“We know he can score the ball,” Montgomery said. “We know he’s a matchup problem because he can score on the inside and the outside. He showed a combination of that today. He knows he’s one of our go to guys and that we count on him to score that basketball.”

The Huskies next game is on the road at Idaho at 9 p.m. Saturday. in Moscow, Idaho.