NIU men’s basketball coach Rob Judson doesn’t put much stock in what happened last time.

Earlier this season, the Huskies jumped out to an early 22 point lead over Toledo before hanging on for a 73-69 victory.

Of course, that was last time. And if NIU is to prove anything in the MAC West, it will have to win this time around as Toledo comes to DeKalb for a 7:05p.m. tip-off today.

“The most important game is the next one,” Judson said. “All I know is that it’s a MAC home game and that’s important.”

But more than just home bragging rights and a season sweep of the Rockets is on the line. Toledo is the only team other than NIU which has an overall winning record in the conference. And while they sit in fourth place in the division, the Rockets were the preseason pick to win the division, making them a team to always be wary of, Judson said.

And if the Huskies hope to duplicate last time’s performance, they’ll need to get off to a better start than they have lately.

In the past two games, NIU’s shooting has gone cold early; 32 percent against Ohio and 28 percent against Kent State.

While this would be a cause for concern or most coaches, Judson isn’t worried at all.

“In any season you’re going to go through stretches where your shots aren’t falling,” the fifth-year coach said. “We still stress taking good shots and I’ve felt good about the ones we have been taking. Though it would be nice to see a few more go in.”

After being out-rebounded against Kent State, the Huskies have focused on crashing the boards in practice. Toledo comes into the game second worst in rebounding in the MAC, and NIU hopes to take advantage.

As for defense, the Huskies will try and stop Justin Ingram and Sammy Villegas. In the past two meetings between the teams, the duo have scored a combined 69 points. And while Villegas has struggled this season, Ingram has been in midseason form, averaging 14.7 points a game.

“We’re going to vary our defensive strategies depending on the game,” Judson said. “But we must be solid in our fundamentals.”