For the second straight game, NIU will play without senior forward Marcus Smallwood.

Smallwood missed Monday’s 83-74 loss to Central Michigan and will miss a 6 p.m. tipoff today at Toledo’s Savage Hall.

In response to a question about Smallwood’s status for NIU’s game against Ball State on Saturday, NIU coach Rob Judson preferred to talk about Toledo.

“We’re just concentrating on our game tomorrow night,” Judson said.

After the game in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. NIU stayed overnight in Lansing, Mich.

The team stopped at Siena Heights University to work out.

Judson is friends with Siena Heights coach Fred Smith, and Judson said the workout stops are done often on road trips.

Today’s game against Toledo marks the second time in less than two weeks the teams have met.

The Rockets won the first contest, 77-64, on Jan. 31 at the Convocation Center.

In that game, Toledo’s lone senior starter Keith Triplett scored a game-high 21 points on 5-of-7 three-point shooting.

Triplett enters todays contest second in the conference in scoring and steals and is third in three-point field goal percentage.

NIU has averaged 16 turnovers in the last four games, including 20 against Central Michigan.

“Most of our turnovers have been fundamental, as opposed to turnovers in our offense,” Judson said. “We need to work on being fundamentally sound with the ball and stronger when we get it inside.”

In NIU’s loss to Central Michigan, NIU senior Al Sewasciuk played for the first time since he injured his left calf against Eastern Michigan on Jan. 14.

The senior guard played two minutes and had zero points.

Sewasciuk practiced over the weekend and will be available on today.

“He’s coming along well,” Judson said. “His leg is in pretty good shape. Now we need to work on getting him back into game shape.”

Redshirt sophomore Bryson McKenzie will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.

McKenzie will undergo surgery on Feb. 19 to repair a knee cap that is out of place, Judson said.

McKenzie will apply for a medical hardship from the NCAA in which he would gain back this year of eligibility. The 6-foot-10 center has played in 20 percent of NIU’s games. The most a player can compete and still apply for the hardship.