Take off your hat, gloves and scarf, because Huskie fever is quickly heating up for the men’s hoops squad.

For what once seemed like a washed-up season for NIU, it recently has taken strides that at one point seemed unimaginable and non-obtainable for this year’s team of predicted underachievers.

Yes, the Huskies had to wait a very long seven games into the season to obtain their first win, and no, that wasn’t even the embarrassing part. Their first W came at the hands of a lowly Division 3 team that DeKalb’s high school team (the only remaining undefeated high school team in the Chicago area) probably could have given a run for their money. But a win is a win, and everyone needs a stepping stone.

Actually, the win was more of a catapult than a stepping stone for a team that was predicted to end up in the doldrums of the Mid-American Conference in the preseason rankings compiled by the college “experts.”

After suffering a loss to a very strong Ball State team, the Huskies proceeded to win their next three games against MAC opponents at home, including a stunning victory over Toledo last Saturday. At the time, Toledo was 12-4 with wins over such lofty opponents as Bowling Green and Cincinnati. NIU looked doomed for a thrashing that would make O.J. Simpson look like a choir boy.

Just when things couldn’t get any worse for the Huskies, the entire bleachers on the south end of Chick Evans Field House refused to come down due to “technical difficulties.” (Think it’s about time for that new stadium?) With the curtain pulled down to cover half the fieldhouse, the fans all squeezed onto one side of the gym. Perhaps the large crowd was nothing but an illusion, but it had the NIU players fooled.

“The crowd was really, really big out there tonight,” NIU freshman Al Sewasciuk said after the game.

“At first I was kind of against it,” said NIU forward Leon Rodgers, “but after a while it got pretty loud.”

With the Huskies receiving added support from the fans, their play has in turn improved at home, with the Toledo win pulling them to three straight home wins in the MAC.

So, why is it, then, that NIU can’t pack up their winning ways in a suitcase and take them with when they go out of town?

“I think it’s just that we are more comfortable with our home crowd and having our own fans cheering for us,” Rodgers said. “On the road, really it’s just you against everyone else.”

Another suggestion could be the unkind zebras on the enemy’s turf, resulting in tough games on the road.

“Right now we just know that there are going to be bad calls, so we’ve just got to play good, work hard and play good defense,” said NIU senior Stephen Jones.

The advantage of playing at home is one that NIU coach Andy Greer is very appreciative of.

“The fans are great,” he said. “They give our kids a lift. People always want to play well in front of their family and friends, and there is no doubt that being at home has been a big help to us over the years. I think our place here is loud when we get a lot of people in it. It could get intimidating, so hopefully we could get a lot of fans out and cheer us on and help us win.”