The NIU men’s basketball team’s road woes just got worse.

The Huskies lost Saturday to Western Michigan, 81-77, giving them a 0-9 record in away games this year. Since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1997, the Huskies’ road record is 3-28.

“You can’t play on the road for only 20 minutes and win in this league,” said interim coach Andy Greer. “In the first half, I was disappointed in our play on the defensive end. We gave up 46 points (in a half) to a team averaging 68 points a game.

“You also have to give our kids credit in the second half,” he said. “They came back and made a game of it.”

Junior forward Leon Rodgers led the Huskies (4-14 overall, 4-5 MAC) with a career-high 34 points. Rodgers’ previous career high was 27 when the Huskies defeated Rockford College earlier this season.

Rodgers’ 34 points is the most since T.J. Lux scored 36 against Marshall last season.

While the Huskies shot 48 percent from the floor, the problem Greer saw was a lack of free throws. Western Michigan (4-14, 4-5 MAC) was 24-of-27 from the free-throw line, while the Huskies hit just 7 of their 18 free-throw attempts. For the season, NIU has been outscored from the free-throw line 331-178.

“I thought that was the key to the ball game,” Greer said. “We need to get to the foul line more. Give them credit: They stepped to the line and made them. We have to be more aggressive. We settle for turnaround jumpers instead of going aggressively to the basket and making contact. We didn’t execute down the stretch.”