After sustaining a knee injury that was thought to keep him out for four to six weeks, Mike Morrison showed on Saturday just how valuable he can be to the Huskies.

In his second game of the year, Morrison scored a career-high 17 points and tied a career-high with seven rebounds. He also tied his career-high in blocks and had seven field goals, which was a new career best.

“I was really proud of Mike Morrison,” said NIU coach Rob Judson. “Three weeks ago, he had arthroscopic surgery; I thought it was going to be four to six weeks. But great credit to him and Dr. Glasgow and our trainer Greg Ehlers, to have him come back. So, I’m real proud of what Mike did out on the court.”

Morrison suffered torn cartilage in practice before the season’s first game and was supposed to be out for at least the first month, but hard work and rehabilitation enabled him to return on Wednesday against Drake.

“I felt fine; it was good to get back out there, get some substantial minutes,” Morrison said. “The knee felt pretty good. I need to get in a little bit better shape, but that will come.”

Morrison played a short seven minutes on Wednesday against Drake; however, he came into the game early against Marshall and played 26 minutes as Marshall had a definite size advantage.

The 6-foot-9 center also had two layups roll around the rim before falling out. If they would have gone for scores, he could have improved on his 7-of-11 shooting.

“The big guy is only going to help them,” Marshall coach Greg White said. “I really like him. He’s a big strong banger; I’d like to have him. I think he’s a player. I think he’s really going to help their team, and he’s going to be a force as we move through the year here.”