They arrive at the hotel at about 8 p.m. Cell phones turned off and handed to the coaches, it’s time to watch film prepping for the game the next day. After game-film, the NIU basketball team heads to its rooms and either reads one of the Ernest Hemingway books coach Rob Judson disperses or watches NBA games on TV.

Staying at the Baymont Inn and Suites on Lincoln Highway, the NIU basketball team is given a road atmosphere for its home games.

As usual, lights off for the midnight curfew because the team has a battle tomorrow, against Eastern Michigan.

The only thing different about this equation is the game is not a road game for the Huskies.

On Jan. 17, riding a three-game road winning streak, Judson decided to shake up the team and simulate the road atmosphere in DeKalb at the Baymont Inn and Suites.

Once the Huskies topped the Eagles 88-79, NIU senior guard Jay Bates figured staying in a hotel for home games would become a regular thing.

“When we won against Eastern, I knew we’d have to do it for the rest of the year,” Bates said. “The coaches take our cell phones and try and make it like a road game. I know how to hang my phone up, but I guess it helps winning, so I don’t complain.”

There isn’t much to complain about recently for the Huskies. Winning six of their last seven, the only fall was a double-overtime thriller to Akron at home. And, yes, the team stayed at a hotel for that game too, and their most recent thrashing of Ball State on Saturday.

For its next two games, NIU takes to the road, but that seems to be the place they feel most comfortable.

“It’s kind of weird this year. We’ve been a better road team this year than a home team,” said forward Marcus Smallwood, whose Huskies are undefeated on the road in 2003. “Hopefully, that will change and we could be just as good as we are at home.”

While Judson tries to avoid staying in the hotel as a superstitious move, he said it was to keep consistency in the player’s routines.

The only difference with home games is that in the morning, the players are still required to go to their regular class schedules and study halls.

“It’s something that we thought could help us relieve some distractions on campus and we thought that’d help us keep our focus good,” Judson said. “The big thing is whether it’s routine, superstition, what you eat, or what you dream about, it’s about the effort that you play with on the court. These guys are playing with a lot of effort on the court.”

While the players may have been irked by the decision when they first found out they couldn’t sleep in their own beds on game nights, they’ve seen the results.

After NIU lost its first two MAC games of the season, they went on a five-game winning streak, and now sit tied for first place in the MAC West.

“When we first did it, it was kind of weird, but it’s really good for us because it keeps us focused,” Smallwood said. “If we are on a winning streak, it’s easy to lose perspective of what’s important, but that really keeps us in check and I think it’s been good for our team up to this point.”