Rob Judson hopes that the Convocation Center is as kind to the Huskies as the road has been recently when NIU hosts Eastern Michigan on Saturday at 2 p.m.

NIU (7-8 overall 3-2 MAC) is coming off of its first road sweep in more than 30 years after winning at Toledo, Ball State and Ohio. Now the Huskies will return home where they boast a 2-4 record to face an Eagles squad that takes care of the basketball.

“The big thing that our team has committed to do since the start of the new year, has been to play with great effort,” Judson said. “And to play consistently, and we’ve done that.”

EMU comes off a win against Bowling Green when it gave the Falcons the first conference loss.

The Eagles have three players atop the leader board in the MAC with assist-to-turnover ratios with guard Michael Ross leading the league with 63 assists (5.7 a game).

“The key defensively for us is to really work on contesting every shot, challenge every shot, and then to make sure we box out,” Judson said. “When we do those two things, we’re a good defensive team.”

Last season, NIU defeated EMU both times they faced, and won the last four meetings between the teams.

Eagles’ senior forward Ryan Prillman is fifth in the MAC with 19.2 points per game. He also is fifth in field-goal percentage at .579.

NIU forward Marcus Smallwood is corralling 9.2 rebounds a game, good for fourth in the conference. He has registered three consecutive double-doubles and seven for the season.

“We want to get back on track here at home,” Judson said. “We want to make sure we make the Convocation Center a real home court. So we’re looking forward to having our fans, particularly the students, really come out to our game Saturday.”