The Mark Montgomery era officially begins for NIU men’s basketball today as it hosts Carthage for its only exhibition game.

The Huskies are a young team returning just one starter, senior Tim Toler, and have nine newcomers this season, eight of them freshmen. That said, there are a lot of questions surrounding the team.

This exhibition game could answer some of those questions for Montgomery and his staff. One big question is who is going to crack the starting lineup.

“The Carthage game is going to give us coaches another look at the guys that we think could potentially earn that position,” Montgomery said. “But just like a game or just like practice, they have to show it everyday. It’s just going to give us another way to evaluate where we think certain guys are.”

The game will also give the NIU coaches and players an idea of what the team still needs to work on.

“I think it will tell us where we’re at by just giving us an outlook on what we need to work on,” Toler said. “If we come out and play a little lackadaisical on defense and need work on our offense, then we’re going to have to pick that up. The game will give us stuff to work on and get ready for Nov. 11 [against Purdue].”

Montgomery is also interested in seeing how the team handles playing in a real game situation.

“The good thing about the Carthage game is you have MAC officials,” Montgomery said. “It’s a little different than a scrimmage, where you can have eight or nine fouls. Now, all of a sudden, you have to play a game-type situation. Any game-type situation for a young team is only helpful, from taking the ball out of bounds, working on set plays [and managing] the shot clock.”

Montgomery will also look to see his players finish strong on offense.

“I want to see our guys take care of the ball,” Montgomery said. “We got kind of loose in that first scrimmage against Drake, I want to see us continue to shoot the ball better. I want to see us do a better job of rebounding on the offensive end. We’re sending guys [for offensive rebounds], now let’s try to finish it off with securing the ball and then getting second chance points.”

With the season opener only a week away, Toler and his Huskie teammates are looking forward to getting their season started.

“We set a lot of new goals,” Toler said. “We want to come out and play 110 percent every night and give the Huskie fans a new outlook on the new team and the new coaching staff. I think the outlook on this team is going to be hard working and to win as many games as possible.”