It was an ugly game at the Convocation Center on Saturday night, as NIU men’s basketball was defeated convincingly by Western Michigan, 71-34.

The Huskies (3-13, 1-3 MAC) struggled to score against the Broncos (10-8, 2-2 MAC) as they went 11 of 55 from the field, only shooting 20 percent, a season-low. NIU also struggled to connect from behind the arc as it shot 4 of 22 in the game. The 34 points scored by the Huskies is also a season-low.

“We were coming off a couple of good practices but just couldn’t get a shot to go in to stop the bleeding,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery.

Western Michigan came into the game with a defensive mindset and it shut the Huskies down.

“Coach always preaches team defense and before the game, he basically just challenged us to play hard,” said WMU junior center Shayne Whittington. “We had to play harder than our opponent tonight, and I think we did.”

Scoring was a different story for the Broncos. They went 19 of 35 from the field and shot 54 percent. The Broncos were just as effective from behind the 3-point line, as they shot 50 percent, conncecting on seven 3-pointers.

“You have to be able to man up and guard someone on the defensive end,” Montgomery said. “When someone comes in your building and shoots 55 percent, you are not playing your hardest. You’re getting out-toughed. That just can’t happen.”

The Broncos were led offensively by junior guard David Brown, the team’s lone scorer in double figures, with 13 points off the bench. Whittington and sophomore guard Austin Richie each added nine points in the win.

While the Huskies are usually a sound rebounding team, they also struggled in this phase of the game against the Broncos. Western Michigan out-rebounded the Huskies 42 to 27. The 27 rebounds ties the Huskies’ season-low.

“Western Michigan came in and just punched us right in the face,” Montgomery said. “I thought they were tougher, more physical. If you look at the rebounding, 42-27, the points in the paint, 22-4, our guys were just in quick sand.”

Sophomore forward Kevin Gray tied his career-high point total with 13 to lead the Huskies offensively. The next high scorer for the Huskies was freshman guard J.J. Cravatta with six points, while shooting two of six from behind the arc.