With a new coaching staff, neither fans nor players knew what to expect from the men’s basketball team this year. By season’s end, not even head coach Ricardo Patton could’ve planned for some of the season’s big surprises.

The Huskies had to deal with injuries, walkouts, ineligibility and a school tragedy.

Unfortunately, the one thing that was probably least surprising, was the end result. The Huskies bowed out of the MAC tournament with a first-round loss to Central Michigan after finishing the season just 6-22 overall, including 3-12 in MAC play.

NIU’s season started with zero wins and six losses. But perhaps an even bigger loss was that of senior Ryan Paradise.

The guard was NIU’s top returning scorer from the pervious season. However, Paradise suffered a broken nose while playing against Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 24, NIU’s sixth game of the year. The injury required surgery. On Jan. 11, the senior decided it was time to leave the team.

“A lot of things happened this season that were out of our control,” Patton said. “We had no way of knowing Paradise would leave like that.”

While no team wants to lose a top scorer, Paradise’s departure may become a blessing down the road for NIU. The senior’s exit opened the door for freshman Jake Anderson. The guard took advantage of his minutes, earning the MAC Freshman of the Year award.

“In the beginning of the season, Jake was doing OK,” NIU senior Shaun Logan said. “By the end of the season, he really picked it up. He came a long way.”

The freshman ended the season as the Huskies’ leading scorer, putting up 12.2 points per game.

But it was senior Egan Grafel who led NIU to its first win of the season. After an opening six-game skid, the forward produced a buzzer-beating tip-in against Lamar.

“That was one of the highlights for me,” Patton said. “They were a good non-conference team and it was nice to get the buzzer beater.”

Despite being their biggest loss of the season, another highlight for the Huskies came when they traveled to Notre Dame. NIU lost 108-62, but playing in South Bend is something Logan will remember forever.

“Playing Notre Dame is something you won’t forget,” Logan said. “It’s something that I’ll be talking about years from now.”

One of the Huskies biggest wins of the season came on the road against an Akron team.

The Zips had won 22 straight home games. At the time, it was the fifth longest streak in the nation. Coming into the contest NIU had not won a road game in 366 days.

But that all came to an end as Anderson and fellow freshman Michael Patton combined to score 46 points. The Huskies beat Akron 88-78.

While the team’s struggles this season are not something coach Patton predicted, he remains optimistic about the future and about what NIU accomplished during his first season.

“I think we laid a solid foundation,” Patton said. “We set a standard in what we expect from our guys.”

From a senior’s perspective, the season was disappointing. But one thing that was not was the way the team responded to the hard times.

“It was a struggle,” Logan said. “But I don’t think we ever gave up. The guys all stuck with it, and that’s a tribute to the players we have here.”