After earning its first MAC victory over Central Michigan Saturday, NIU men’s basketball travels to Ohio to take on another MAC opponent, Toledo.

With their first MAC win, the Huskies (2-13, 1-2 MAC) gained some confidence and look to continue this level of play in the MAC.

“We feel great right now,” said NIU basketball coach Mark Montgomery. “We’re looking forward to our next game, new challenge, new team. We have the right mindset that we are ready to go and get our first road win.

The Huskies come off of their best shooting performance of the year, hitting 12 threes in their last game against the Chippewas. They hope that can carry over.

“We rely on our perimeter jump shots,” Montgomery said. “Hopefully, we can continue to take good shots, take care of the ball and shoot a high percentage.”

In order to win the game, NIU will have to give a strong defensive effort, as Toledo (8-9, 0-3 MAC) leads the MAC in scoring with an average of 74.1 points per game.

“Well, they like to score and get up and down,” said NIU redshirt sophomore Antone Christian. “We will have to keep their main players at bay, and we have to put them into positions where they are not as comfortable as they usually are.”

NIU will have to focus on Toledo’s backcourt, led by Rian Pearson who has averaged 16.4 points per game this season.

“It definitely starts in their backcourt,” Montgomery said. “Their backcourt is getting 40 plus points, and they are only averaging 74. So we are going to try to slow down their backcourt. We’re going to take a defensive mindset and make sure that we rebound the basketball.”

NIU has a chance to win back-to-back games for the first time this season. In order to do that, the team must have the right mindset.

“We have to remain focused and continue to pay attention to detail like we have been doing,” Christian said. “If we can keep that momentum rolling, we have a lot of good things to come.”