By Bobby Narang
The Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team hits a key part of its schedule in the final days of February.
The Northern Illinois Huskies, who faced Mid-American Conference leader Akron Tuesday, are riding the hot play of Quentin Jones. Leading the MAC in scoring at 16.5 points, Jones is averaging 19.2 points over his last six games.
The Huskies are looking to build momentum heading into Saturday afternoon’s “Cram the Convo” doubleheader with Eastern Michigan. The annual event will feature the NIU women’s basketball team and will play host to EMU in the first half of the twinbill.
The NIU men’s team suffered a tough loss to Ball State, rallying back from a 20-plus deficit only to fall 89-83 Saturday at Worthen Arena. The Huskies (5-20 and 1-11) were led by Jones’ 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
“It was a better second half than first, in the last few minutes of the first half, we went from down six to down 18, giving up for threes,” NIU coach Rashon Burno said.
Burno said the Huskies will improve, noting to the fan base to expect to see a better brand of basketball down the stretch.
“We are going to compete, these guys are not going to quit, on the road, at home, these guys are extremely competitive,” Burno said. “We just have to figure out how to start better.”
Meanwhile, the NIU women are coming off a 60-51 win over Western Michigan Saturday. The Huskies (12-12 and 5-7) were led by Chelby Koker’s 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists, as they relied on an 18-4 run in the fourth quarter to win their third straight game.
“I was proud of how hard we fought the whole game,” NIU coach Lisa Carlsen said after the victory. “Our seniors played like seniors today and I expect them to continue that down the stretch. They have a lot of basketball left in them and a lot to prove.”