Men’s basketball will lean on a veteran lineup as it gears up for another season it hopes ends with a trip to the MAC Tournament in Cleveland.

The Huskies are returning their top six scorers and four of their five starters. On top of that, redshirt senior Anthony Johnson and redshirt sophomore Michael Orris, who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, will be eligible to play. The wealth of experience has given head coach Mark Montgomery a spring in his step.

“It’s the first year that I can say we have no freshmen that we have to rely on, and that’s kind of exciting,” Montgomery said. “I think our guys — our student athletes — have been through the wars. They understand the travel. They understand the other teams in the league. They understand the toughness of how hard it is to win on the road. So, we’re going to use that experience to our advantage this coming year.”

Depth

NIU features a lot of depth at each position, especially in the backcourt. Orris will challenge junior Travon Baker for the role of starting point guard, and Johnson and senior Aaron Armstead will battle for the two-guard spot.

The experience on the roster positions the Huskies to make another leap in the win-loss column after putting together a 15-win campaign last year.

“It puts us all a little bit better,” said redshirt senior center Jordan Threloff. “We did play in Cleveland. We had [a] tough loss against Eastern Michigan. We now have a taste of what it takes to win and advance.”

NIU will feature an experienced frontcourt that returns Threloff, junior Darrell Bowie and redshirt senior Pete Rakocevic. Adding to that will be redshirt freshman Marin Maric, who missed most of last season with a broken foot. The size on the interior is expected to help the Huskies hold onto their title as the MAC’s top rebounding team.

Offense

One of the biggest struggles for the Huskies last season came on offense, as they only averaged 62.2 points per game. Montgomery said they’re focusing on getting fast breaks and utilizing their size on the interior to score in the paint.

“I think the vision, how I see it, how our staff sees it, … we want to be more of an up-tempo team,” Montgomery said. “We want to use our depth. We want to press. We want to fast break. We want to definitely pound the basketball inside on [the] offensive side of the ball.”

Expectations

After last season’s 15-17 finish, the Huskies are facing high expectations. In the MAC preseason poll, NIU was selected to finish fourth in the MAC West. Bowie said the players feel the pressure, but they know what they need to do to meet those expectations.

“The bar has been set high, especially around campus and everything,” Bowie said. “We got a lot of our fans … excited. Staff, players are excited. Expectations are high. We just [have to] continue to work hard and build in practice, just get our team chemistry down pat.

“I don’t think it’s going to come as quick as everybody would like, but we just [have to] keep on practicing, and we’ll be where we need to be by the time [the] playoffs come.”