The NIU men’s basketball team sprinted off the court at halftime to a standing ovation as they enjoyed a 38-35 lead, but in the second half, everything changed.

After halftime, NIU (14-10, 10-4 MAC) was outscored 52-37 as the Chippewas (18-5, 11-3 MAC) pushed the Huskies into second place in the MAC West and themselves into first with a 87-75 victory in front of 6,813 fans Saturday at the Convocation Center.

Even with star center Chris Kaman playing just 24 minutes before fouling out with 7:26 left in the game, CMU got a career-high 27 points from point guard J.R. Wallace.

Wallace hit seven three-pointers and found himself open for most of the game as NIU’s zone focused on keeping the ball out of Kaman’s hands.

“Teams pick their poison,” Wallace said. “If they wanna guard Chris on the inside, then guys on the outside have to step up and make some shots. If they wanna pressure us on the outside, we just get it into the big fella. I was able to knock down some shots and keep it close in the first half.”

Kaman finished with a season-low six points. He also had seven rebounds. His replacement Adam Dentlinger had 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor.

NIU forward Marcus Smallwood scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Perry Smith chipped in 17 points.

Senior guard Jay Bates had 11 points and a career-high eight assists. However, he had seven turnovers, five in the second half.

After Smith finger-rolled in a basket to even the game at 49 with 15:15 left, the Chippewas went on a 12-4 run and never let NIU within six points.

“I thought that we really were able to be on top and attack them in the first half and that we controlled the paint,” NIU coach Rob Judson said. “But in the second half, their pressure forced a lot of turnovers on us and because of that, we weren’t able to get into the paint and control the paint as well as we did in the first half.”

CMU shot 57 percent from the field and made 20-of-22 free throws. In the second half, they shot 67 percent and were able to hold NIU to only six rebounds. NIU was outrebounded 28-26 despite holding a 20-12 edge on the boards at halftime. This was only the second time in the last 14 games NIU has been outrebounded.

“We know we could’ve played and should’ve played a lot better defensively,” Smallwood said.