For Saturday’s game, the NIU basketball team is grateful to be back home, but will have its hands full against a Central Michigan team on a roll.

With the Huskies 0-13 on the road this year, they’ll play a short homestand of three games starting at 1 p.m. Saturday at Chick Evans Field House. The Chippewas are 14-4, and 8-1 in the Mid-American Conference.

“I think we have greater confidence at home,” said NIU assistant coach Ryan Marks.

The Huskies will need that boost against a Central Michigan team riding a seven-game win streak.

“It’s certainly a great challenge for us,” said Marks. “They are playing as great as any team in our league right now.”

A big factor for CMU’s success this year is its star players — 6-feet-2-inch David Weber and 6-feet-5-inch Mike Manciel. Weber, averaging 19 points a game, is the younger brother of the Sacramento Kings’ MVP candidate, Chris Weber. Manciel was the Mid-American Conference’s Freshman of the Year two years ago.

“We are going to concentrate on their two best players, which are probably the two best players in the conference,” said freshman Al Sewasciuk. “We put in a couple new defenses and offenses because of them.”

With their last three games at home all resulting in wins, the Huskies look to pull another upset as they did against Toledo last Saturday.

“We are happy to be back home,” Sewasciuk said. “Hopefully a lot of people will come out and support us and help us get that winning streak going.”

“It’s definitely going to be a difficult game for us,” Marks added. “We feel like there are some things that we could do against them, and if we play the way we are capable of, particularly defensively. The way we’ve played at home the last two games against Toledo and Eastern Michigan, there is no reason why we can’t win this game.”Star File photo

NIU junior forward Leon Rodgers (left) looks for openings around a Toledo defender this season.