The NIU men’s basketball team will search for its first win of the season against the Spartans this Saturday at the Convocation Center.

The game, starting at 4:05 p.m., won’t be against the well-known Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten, but the Aurora Spartans of the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference.

Although the visiting Spartans (2-0) are a Division III school, don’t expect the Huskies (0-1) to take the game lightly.

“They’re a good team and they have good perimeter players and good post players,” NIU coach Rob Judson said. “They have players that can score so we will have to establish our defense.”

Aurora is coming off a season in which it went 23-5 to win the NIIC for a second straight year and lost in the second round of the Division III NCAA tournament.

The Spartans are ranked No. 22 in Division III and have star sophomore forward Larry Welton returning.

As a freshman, Welton earned the NIIC Player of the Year and NIIC Newcomer during the 2004-2005 season.

Welton averaged 20.1 points per game and shot an impressive .530 from the field and .354 behind the arc in 28 games last year.

Welton also averaged 7.6 rebounds per contest and tallied 41 blocks on the season.

“[Welton] scored 30 in their last game so we will have to play very good on the ball defense on him,” Judson said.

The Huskies will have to fight the outstanding forward and the Spartans to make up for lost ground.

The Huskies started the season with an 87-51 setback to Missouri State, formerly known as Southwest Missouri State.

In order for NIU to get back on track, it will have to have to shoot the ball better and play tighter defense against the Spartans than it did against Missouri State, Judson said.

Although the Huskies’ first home game falls on a Saturday during Thanksgiving break, the team hopes to have the Convo packed as the Huskies will be hosting “Sell Out Night.”

– Sports Asst. Editor Jarrod Rice contributed to this article.