As if things couldn’t get worse for the NIU men’s basketball team, the Huskies now are at least temporarily without star player Marcus Smallwood for “time off to reflect.”

The 6-foot-6 senior did not make NIU’s road trip that included Monday’s loss at Central Michigan and an upcomming matchup against host Toledo on Wednesday.

Smallwood was at his home in Elgin on Monday.

“It was really hard to watch the game,” said Smallwood, who watched it on Fox Sports Net. “I was so proud of the effort the guys gave.

“I’m taking some time off and there’s some things that Coach Judson felt needed to be done for the betterment of the team. I’m just taking time off to reflect.”

Judson would not comment on Smallwood other than what he said in a release prior to the game: “It was a coaching decision based on team and individual concerns,” Judson said.

NIU’s leading scorer and rebounder has been virtually non-existent in NIU’s three games prior to Monday.

Smallwood averaged 8.3 points and 6.6 rebounds in the three games prior to the CMU loss. That is not exactly the play you would expect out of the only returning first-team All-MAC player, which were the first signs something was wrong.

Smallwood failed to start his first game since his sophomore year against Kent State on Wednesday. He finished with four points and six rebounds in 24 minutes of play. He sat on the bench the first 14 minutes of the game.

All Judson said about Smallwood not starting against Kent State was that it was because of “lateness.”

The king of the double-double, Smallwood hasn’t reached double figures in points and rebounds in the same game since Jan. 3. Up until Saturday, the Elgin-native held the MAC lead with six double-doubles. Eastern Michigan’s John Bowler surpassed Smallwood, who was watching his game deteriorate under what looked like the pressure of double teams and collapsing zone defenses.

Smallwood isn’t even the team’s leading scorer in MAC games with a 13.4 average. He also drops in conference play from 9.7 rebounds to 8.5 and 50 percent shooting from the floor to 48 percent.

Now that an apparent problem has been brought to light, it adds meaning into Smallwood’s struggles. After all, this is a player who is loved by teammates and admired by opponents, and his play of late showed nothing of the sort.