Nov. 13, 2011 
Milwaukee Game Notes in PDF 
Northern Illinois Huskies (0-1, 0-0 MAC) vs. UW-Milwaukee Panthers (1-0, 0-0 Horizon)
Date: Monday, November 14, 2011
Tipoff: 7 p.m. CT
Location: NIU Convocation Center • DeKalb, Ill.
Radio: WLBK 1360-AM in DeKalb and WKRS 1220-AM in Waukegan
Live Stats: niuhuskies.com
The Match-Up
Northern Illinois hosts UW-Milwaukee in its regular season home opener on Monday night. NIU head coach Mark Montgomery will be making his home debut with a young squad that features nine newcomers and just five returnees from last season. The Huskies fell, 96-34, in their season opener on Friday at Purdue while UW-Milwaukee won its opener, 71-65, on Saturday against Southwest Minnesota State.
About UW-Milwaukee
The Panthers posted a 19-14 overall record a season ago, 13-5 in the Horizon League to finish in a three-way tie for the conference championship with Butler and Cleveland State. Milwaukee returns three starters and eight letterwinners from last season's team. Tony Meier is the leading returning scorer for the Panthers after averaging 12.0 points per game last season. Milwaukee was picked to finish fourth this season in the Horizon League preseason poll under seventh-year head coach Rob Jeter who enters the season with a 101-89 record at Milwaukee.
Against the Panthers
The Huskies and Panthers will be meeting for the 27th time in series history. NIU leads the all-time series, 17-9, but the two school have not met since 1997. UW-Milwaukee won that last meeting, 64-59, on Feb. 3, 1997, in Milwaukee, snapping a streak of seven consecutive wins by NIU in the series. Northern Illinois leads the series in games played in DeKalb, 10-2. The Huskies have won four-straight home contests against the Panthers, with UW-Milwaukee's last win in DeKalb coming on Dec. 28, 1992 (82-57).
NIU Against the Horizon League
The Huskies are 81-94 all-time against members of the Horizon League. NIU's last contest against a member of the Horizon League came on Dec. 14, 2010, an 80-78 victory over UIC. That contest was the lone game against a member of the Horizon League last season, this year the Huskies will face three Horizon League foes: UW-Milwaukee (Nov. 14), at UIC (Dec. 10) and Valparaiso (Dec. 20).
Eight Make Their Debut
The eight freshmen on the NIU roster all made their collegiate debut in the season opener at Purdue. Two members of that freshmen class, Marquavese Ford and Abdel Nader, were in the starting lineup against the Boilermakers. In total, 124 of the 200 minutes played by the Huskies at Purdue were played by freshmen (62 percent).
NIU Home Debuts
Head coach Mark Montgomery will be looking to become the first NIU head coach to win his home opener since Brian Hammel's club defeated Aurora on Nov. 30, 1991, 94-59. Since Hammel's debut, three consecutive Huskie head coaches have fallen in their DeKalb debut.
Twin Peaks
Freshmen twins Keith and Kevin Gray were the high rebounders in NIU's season opener against Purdue. Kevin Gray grabbed a game-high seven rebounds in 20 minutes of action while his brother Keith pulled down five rebounds in 16 minutes of play. No player for the Boilermakers grabbed more than five rebounds in the contest.
Convocation Center Openers
Northern Illinois will begin its 10th season of play at the NIU Convocation Center. The Huskies are 5-4 all-time in openers at the Convocation Center. Last season, NIU fell to Northwestern, 97-78, in the first home game of the season.
Looking Ahead
NIU will return to the road for its second game against a Big Ten foe when the Huskies travel to Iowa on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Huskies will return home to the NIU Convocation Center on Sunday, Nov. 20, when they host Eastern Illinois at 1 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the NIU women's team.
