Coming off a 71-34 loss against Western Michigan, men’s basektball will look to get back on track when it faces Central Michigan today.

The loss to the Broncos was the Huskies’ (3-13, 1-3 MAC) worst defeat of the season and they are looking forward to getting back on the court.

“The good thing is we don’t have to wait long to play,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “We play Wednesday at Central and then Saturday again at EMU, so you don’t have time to sit around and think about it too much. We practiced Sunday, we got right back after it and it was competitive, we made sure that we were all on the same page and we are looking forward to CMU now.”

The Huskies started off MAC play with a win, but since then have flopped their last three consecutive contests. If they want to get back on track, they will have to be prepared for a Central Michigan team different from what they have seen in recent years.

“They get out in transition,” Montgomery said. “Their two-guard [Kyle Randall] is near the league lead in scoring at 21 points a game [in MAC play]. They shoot a lot of threes; they have a spacing four-man that will stretch our defense. They play a matchup zone and they will look to press, so it is a different type Central Michigan team than we have seen before.”

On the season, the Chippewas are the No. 2 team in the MAC in 3-point field goals made with 135 in 17 games. Their leading 3-point shooter is freshman forward Blake Hibbitts, who has hit 35 this season.

The Chippewas (9-8, 2-2 MAC) earned a 71-57 win over MAC opponent Ball State in the most recent game.

Road games in the MAC are a battle and Montgomery is looking for his team to give a strong performance.

“We are looking to put together a complete, 40-minute game at home,” Montgomery said. “We haven’t done that yet, but we have shown that we can play a full 40 minutes on the road. There are no easy games in conference.”