After breezing by its first opponent of the year, Illinois Institute of Technology, by 50 points Monday, the NIU men’s basketball team will get a real test Saturday, NIU coach Rob Judson said.

The Huskies play Laval University of Quebec, one of the top teams in Canadian college basketball, at 2:05 p.m. Saturday at the Convocation Center. Judson compared them to an upper-level American college team in a division like the Big Ten.

“They’re among the highest level of collegiate competition in Canada,” Judson said. “They’ve got some guys in their mid-’20s and they’ve got a lot of size.”

Laval’s top scorer from last year, Charles Fortier, averaged 21.4 points per game. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard is in his fifth year of eligibility at 25 years old and still able to play due to different eligibility rules in Canada.

Laval has already played nine games, amounting to a 7-2 record. Saturday’s game will be the Huskies second exhibition of the season.

The Huskies will battle a team that has five players registered at 6-foot-7 or above on their roster.

“That’s what we wanted,” Judson said. “We want a real test for this game. It’ll be an older, wiser, seasoned-veteran team that plays at the highest level of collegiate basketball.”

Judson hopes his team’s chemistry will give the Huskies the advantage.

“This is a cohesive group,” Judson said. “We have to be a team that has collective strength. I would also hope our athleticism will help around the perimeter.”

Six players finished in double-digits for scoring on Monday, but Judson was most impressed with the assist total of 20 his team put forth.

“I was pleased with the way we shared the ball on Monday,” Judson said. “We have an equal-opportunity offense; it allows our players to use the court.”

Laval will face the Huskies before traveling to face Iowa the next day. Judson hopes the game against the Canadian team that finished with a 17-1 record last year will fine-tune his team before the first regular-season game Nov. 20 at Loyola.

“They might be real good,” said Judson of Laval. “The big thing we want to do is establish the way we want to play. We really need to improve defensively. They might be real good.”