With just one win in six games, the NIU men’s basketball team decided it needed a change Saturday at the Convocation Center.

Huskies coach Rob Judson opted to wear the team’s Chicago Bulls-esque red jerseys that held bad luck previously.

“We had those made and broke them out a couple times last year and didn’t do too well in them,” Judson said. “We took them to Western [Michigan] and played real tough in them. We just decided we were going to keep wearing them until we got a win in them.”

After topping Eastern Michigan 87-74 on Saturday, Judson plans on wearing the jerseys Tuesday when the team travels to Buffalo.

“You may see them for a while now,” Judson said.

NIU built up an early 16-point lead on the Eagles; making 10 of its first 11 attempts.

Midway through the first half, the Eagles responded with a 10-0 run. The Huskies shot 4-of-12 for the rest of the half, with EMU taking the lead on a turnover and breakaway layup at the end.

“It was a disastrous end to the first half, but in the locker room, we stayed oddly positive,” Judson said. “We said, ‘Fellas, it’s the same deal.’ We had to finish off stops, not turn the basketball over.”

The Eagles’ late run did not carry over into the second half, as the Huskies started with a 18-9 spurt of their own.

Junior Todd Peterson helped lift the Huskies back into the lead by scoring 25 second-half points.

“The last time I shot like this was probably my freshman year of high school,” Peterson said.

But for Judson, it wasn’t just Peterson’s points that helped NIU break away in the second half.

“When Bryson McKenzie scores a basket we’re 4-0,” Judson said. “So what we’re going to do is put Bryson in there, call a play for him and get him to score a basket right away. Todd had a great game, but he’ll be the first to tell you we don’t have any stars on this team.”