Culture change on hand for men’s basketball

By Brian Earle

For the last five seasons, men’s basketball has established a losing culture in DeKalb as the bottom feeders of the MAC.

After winning just five games in each of the last two seasons, losing had become an expectation for the team.

That has changed for the Huskies (10-12, 4-6 MAC) this season, as they have already won their 10th game, totaling their win total in the last two seasons.

It’s the first time since the 2009-2010 season the Huskies have won 10 games or more. The four MAC victories are also more than they won in the last two seasons.

The biggest difference this season has been a sense of togetherness and fight that had been missing in recent years.

In each of the Huskies’ last four games, they have found themselves down by 10 or more points. In previous seasons, it would have been safe to say the Huskies would lose and they would have throw in the towel.

The Huskies have answered the bell, coming back from deficits of 14 points against Kent State, 15 points against Ball State, 10 points against Miami (Ohio), and coming up just short of completing a 16-point comeback over Western Michigan.

In those three comeback wins, it was the first time the Huskies put together a winning streak of three games or more since winning six in a row back in 2009-2010.

This is not the same Huskie team fans in DeKalb have gotten used to watching, and other teams and coaches are starting to take notice of the improvement.

“They’re running the same stuff; they’ve just got a lot better players running it,” said Western Michigan coach Steve Hawkins. “… There’s just a lot more talent than there’s been in the past. Some of it has been recruiting. There’s no doubt about it, Monty’s done a terrific job, and his staff’s done a tremendous job of bringing in great players.

“But equally impressive has been the players from within the program getting better. That’s not an easy thing to do, to get a player a lot better. They’ve really helped out with that.”

One thing NIU has been able to hang its hat on in recent seasons as well as this season is its defensive play. This season, the Huskies are the third-best defensive team in the MAC, surrendering just 64.3 points per game.

They have shut a number of teams down, including Bowling Green, against which they allowed just 36 points. The team also recently only gave up 41 points to Miami (Ohio).

“I don’t think enough people understand. They get used to all, ‘This is what Northern Illinois is like’ stuff, and it’s not the same Northern Illinois team. It’s not,” said Ohio coach Jim Christian in a news conference prior to playing NIU on Jan. 18. “… I think [Montgomery] is doing a great job over there.

“[They’re] the best defensive team in the league, period. They help, they guard the ball hard. They don’t get beat with plays. They rotate. They’re a terrific defensive team, and I’m not just saying that because we’re playing them. Their numbers bear it out.”