Sometimes, it’s just not your day.

Unfortunately for the NIU men’s basketball team, Saturday was not its day.

Opening its season against Missouri State, the Huskies (0-1) hoped to get off to a quick start and put one in the win column. But that’s hard to do when you can’t make a basket and your opponent doesn’t miss.

The opposites in shooting showed on the scoreboard as NIU lost its second straight season opener 87-51.

MSU (1-0) stepped onto the court seemingly unable to miss right from the start. The Bears made 50 percent of their shots in the first half, including four-of-nine from behind the three-point arc.

As impressive as MSU’s shooting was in the first half, it was nothing compared to the second half. The Bears made 68 percent of their shots in the second half and shot 58.2 percent for the game.

“We have to give credit to Missouri State for playing a very good basketball game,” NIU coach Rob Judson said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight and they did.”

When Judson said his team didn’t shoot the ball well, he meant it. The Huskies shot 34.5 percent in the first half and just 25.8 percent in the second half.

The Huskies had only one lead, when James Hughes knocked in a jumper to give NIU a 2-0 lead 13 seconds into the game. The cold shooting effort allowed only one NIU player to reach double digits in scoring: Todd Peterson, with 10 points.

“During the course of a season there will be occasions where the ball isn’t falling,” Judson said.

The fifth-year coach hoped the team’s defense would make up for the lack of offense, but in the end, NIU couldn’t stop the hot-shooting Bears. Three MSU players reached double digits, led by Blake Ahearn with 19. Tyler Chaney chipped in with 14 and Deke Thompson, who hit a game-winning shot last year against NIU, had 11.