When the NIU men’s basketball team faces off against Ball State on Saturday at 7:05 p.m., current team members will be under the watchful eyes of past Huskie players.

Celebrating the men’s basketball 100th anniversary, the most prestigious Huskie alumni will be gathered into Chick Evans Field House to honor and pay tribute to their past efforts and accomplishments.

“It’s really exciting when you’re playing at a school where you can say that they have such a deep history like NIU,” said NIU freshman Marcus Smallwood. “I will have a little extra motivation to go out and impress [the past players] with them looking on.”

The Huskies will need the extra motivation as the Cardinals are 12-10 overall and 4-2 on the road in the Mid-American Conference.

“They are a very talented ball club,” said NIU coach Andy Greer. “They probably have the best front-line in the league so we are going to have our hands full as far as inside play and rebounding. So that will be an important factor for us. We’ve got to handle the boards and limit their offensive boards.”

Leading the way for Ball State’s big and athletic front-line are 6-foot-8 sophomore Theron Smith (16 points, 8 rebounds) and 6-foot-11 junior Lonnie Jones (10 points, 6 rebounds). Last game, Smith and Jones ripped the Huskies for 25 and 17 points, respectively.

“[Theron] is very, very good,” Greer said. “I think he has a chance to be a pro and play in the NBA. Because of his size and his shot-blocking ability [Jones] also has a chance with pro potential. Their inside guys hurt us quite a bit last time.”

Coming into DeKalb off a win against Buffalo on Thursday, the Cardinals will be primed for action, so NIU will have to counteract with their readiness for this game, which will be televised on Fox Sports. Greer feels the Huskies have not lacked effort in the past couple of games but now need to combine their hard play with smart play while taking care of the ball.

“Ball State is traditionally one of the top teams in our league,” Greer said. “If we won it would be really good for the kids, because obviously with the losing streak it’s been difficult. Hopefully we’ll have a nice crowd out here. It would certainly help.”