When you do something more than 100 times a week, you’re bound to get good at it.

Every time the NIU men’s basketball team suits up for practice, they know at some point they will break off and shoot free throws.

Those practice shots are something NIU coach Rob Judson concentrates on and always makes sure to find time for.

Sunday, NIU didn’t make a single field goal in the final 14 minutes of its game against Ball State. But when the final buzzer sounded the Huskies still held the lead.

How? All of NIU’s final 20 points came from the free-throw line.

His team’s performance from the free-throw line put a large smile on Judson’s face.

“That was very big,” Judson said. “Getting to the free-throw line is great, but when you make one of two that’s not much help. But today we were converting both shots.”

The MAC’s second-best team in free-throw percentage, NIU made 28-of-31 from the charity stripe, including 22-of-25 in the second half. The 28 free throws made set a Convocation Center.

Leading the way from the line was junior Todd Peterson, who scored half of his 26 points from the free-throw line.

His 13-of-13 shooting also tied Willie Hanson and Tim Dillon for the most free throws made in a game without a miss in NIU history.

“We shoot like 25, 50 free throws a day in practice,” Peterson said. “We are always practicing free throws.”

Also contributing to the team’s effort from the line was Mike McKinney (6-of-8) and Anthony Maestranzi (3-of-4). The pair combined for seven points from the line in the final 1:20.

But James Hughes’ performance was the one that surprised Judson the most.

After being listed as day-to-day with a back bruise, Hughes made all four of his free-throw attempts down the stretch.

“James had been struggling from the line,” Judson said. “But our coaches have been working with him and it showed today.”