March has begun and NIU basketball fans saw a glimpse of the madness this month is all about.

A technical foul by the NIU bench set the tone for the team’s 80-73 loss against Central Michigan.

With less than two minutes left in the first half, the team received a technical foul for complaining about a call.

But the madness didn’t stop there.

The teams combined for 53 personal fouls, two technical fouls and 79 free-throw attempts. Physical play defined the matchup.

“You have two teams and two programs that are trying to rebuild and establish themselves in a level of toughness,” CMU head coach Ernie Zeigler said. “When you have two like approaches going at each other, two bulls are going to ram into one another.”

Aggressive gameplay was the cause of numerous whistles from the referees. But, as the men in stripes tried to control the team’s physicality, the game turned into one of free-throw percentages.

Though the Huskies sunk 65.2 percent of their free throw shots, the Chippewas (12-15 overall, 7-7 MAC) found themselves in control of the charity stripe.

CMU came into the contest with a lower free-throw percentage than the Huskies. However, the Chippewas sank 26 of 33 attempts, giving CMU a 78.8 percent success rate from the free-throw line.

“We struggled from the free-throw line for the past couple of games,” CMU’s Marko Spica said. “I was kind of worried, but we shot 80 percent from the line in this game and it turned out good.”

The sophomore did not play in CMU’s three previous games, but that didn’t stop him from scoring a season – and team-high of 19 points.

The center also leads his team in free-throw percentage, sinking 76.2 percent of his shots. Against NIU, Spica was a perfect 7-for-7.

“Ever since I was little, free throws have been a good part of my game,” he said. “It was important to shoot perfectly because it helped us get the lead, and win in the end.”

NIU (6-19, 3-10) set a school record by attempting 46 free throws, but only hit 30 of their tries.

Freshman Jake Anderson went to the line a career-high 16 times. Although the guard’s physical play helped him reach the line, he only converted nine of his attempts.

“I was just trying to stay aggressive and take what the defense would give me,” Anderson said. “But sometimes it was better to kick the ball out to open players.”

The madness wasn’t limited to just fouls and free throws.

In the second half, NIU forward Shaun Logan found himself in an argument with CMU’s Nate Minnoy. After an aggressive play, Logan received an elbow to the face. Minnoy landed a technical foul, while Logan received an intentional foul for pushing Minnoy after the scuffle.

“I guess it’s just a game,” Logan said. “I probably did foul him, but it was a questionable thing. It was heat of the moment.”

“What we have to learn as a team is to play with passion and emotion before we get popped in the mouth,” NIU head coach Ricardo Patton said. “They threw it up; the passion, emotion and intensity.”