NIU forward Marcus Smallwood knows that despite Buffalo’s winless record in the MAC, the Huskies will have a tough time playing there tonight.

The Huskies and Bulls will tip off at 7 p.m. in Buffalo. The Huskies have won the last four meetings between the teams.

“We know Buffalo is deceptive,” said Smallwood, this week’s MAC West Player of the Week. “We know that they are deceptively good, but their record just doesn’t show that right now.”

The Bulls lost to the MAC East’s first-place Kent State by one point and Miami (Ohio) by two.

In the conference schedule, the Huskies have yet to lose on the road, going a perfect 4-0. But Smallwood called this upcoming trip to Buffalo tonight, and Kent State’s game on Saturday, the toughest trip the team will have all year.

Winning away from the friendly confines of home is something that most teams struggle with. However, NIU coach Rob Judson instills a positive mentality into the players when they are the visitors.

“The big thing that our team has done, is that they’ve begun to understand that the secret to winning on the road is there is no secret,” Judson said. “It takes a lot of focus. When you’re on the road, you have to have just a tremendous focus to overcome all the unfamiliarity that you have, and you have to play very good defense.”

Since re-joining the MAC in 1997, the Huskies have never started out 5-0 on the road within conference.

With a win, the Huskies can move into first place in the MAC West by themselves as Central Michigan is idle.

“Being undefeated on the road in the MAC doesn’t mean anything now,” Judson said. “Every game is a big game. What you did in the past doesn’t matter as each game presents a new challenge.”