For the first time in more than a week, the NIU men’s basketball team will play a home game.

The Huskies will take on Buffalo at 2:05 p.m. Sunday at the Convocation Center.

“We play well here,” NIU sophomore Todd Peterson said. “It will be nice not to have a student section yelling at us and be able to sleep in our own beds.”

NIU (7-10 overall, 2-5 MAC) has lost four of its last five games, but is undefeated in six games at home this season.

Buffalo (5-9, 1-5) enters the game on a six-game losing streak.

The Bulls had five players score in double figures in their last game, an 86-74 loss to Marshall.

The last time the two teams met, NIU won 81-64 in the opening round of of the 2003 MAC tournament.

The Bulls are led by junior guard Turner Battle. Battle averages 12.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

“I’ve heard a lot of good things about him,” Peterson said. “He’s really a good player.”

Battle is coming off his first career double-double against Marshall. The 6-foot-3 guard recorded 15 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

Buffalo has not won a conference road game this season. The Bulls have lost 19 consecutive conference road games, dating back to Jan 19, 2002.

Marcus Smallwood leads NIU in both scoring and rebounding. Smallwood is the only player in the MAC to average a double-double with 15.4 points and 10.2 rebounds.

NIU was the preseason pick to win the MAC championship, but is 2-5 in conference games so far.

The Huskies have five of their first seven MAC games on the road, which is more than any other conference squad. However, the Huskies play seven of their next 11 conference games at home.

“We’re only seven games in,” Peterson said. “We haven’t played our best game yet. Our best is yet to come.”