DEKALB, Ill. -- Four players scored in double figures and the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team shot 55.7 percent from the field as the Huskies closed their Pre-Christmas slate with a 100-59 rout of Chicago State. Junior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored 21 points, senior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) added 16, sophomore Zaire Mateen (Queens, N.Y./Laramie County CC) chipped in a career-high 15 and senior Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College) scored 14 points. 

The Huskies had contributions from throughout the lineup as the NIU bench outscored the Chicago State reserves, 37-4, to help NIU improve to 7-5 on the season. Nine different players dished out at least one assist for NIU, led by three from German and sophomore Rod Henry-Hayes (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township). 

"It was a bounce back game," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "We had a tough one the other night at NKU, but our guys responded, it was a business-type approach. It is good to see our guys are still shooting the ball extremely well. Our defense has made improvements, we rebounded, we did a lot of things well today."

Thorpe, Henry-Hayes and German each knocked down three-pointers in the opening two minutes as the Huskies raced out to a 9-2 lead in the early going. 

A 7-0 run by Chicago State brought the Cougars back within one, 13-12, with just under 13 minutes to play in the first half before Bradley ended the Chicago State run with a layup and ignited an 8-0 burst for the Huskies as NIU pushed its lead to 21-12. 

Senior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) added the next three after the Bradley layup and the senior from Milwaukee capped the run with a triple from the top of the key as the Huskies led by nine with a little over nine minutes to play in the opening half. 

James finished with six points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. 

The NIU lead was nine, 29-21 when the Huskies went on a 12-3 run to close the first half. German knocked down a triple to open the burst and then added a pair of free throws and a layup. Freshman Austin Richie (Glenwood, Ill./Don Bosco Institute) knocked down a trifecta from the corner and Bradley scored off an offensive rebound to give the Huskies a 41-24 lead at the intermission. 

NIU, who came into the contest ranked second in the nation in field goal percentage, shot 50 percent (15-of-30) from the field in the opening half. 

A 13-0 run early in the second stanza gave the Huskies a 56-29 lead with 13:58 left in the contest. Henry-Hayes opened the run with a triple, junior Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) added four points and the Huskies went 6-of-8 from the line during the burst as they took a 27-point lead. 

McCarty chipped in seven points off the bench for the Huskies. Senior Jaylen Key (Milwaukee, Wis./Homestead) added nine points from off the bench and Mateen was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, including 3-of-3 from three-point range, in a reserve role. 

The Huskie offense remained red-hot through the entire second half as NIU shot 61.3 percent (19-of-31) in the second 20 minutes, including 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from behind the arc and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the free-throw line. 

Delshon Strickland scored 17 points to lead three players in double figures for Chicago State. Christian Jacob scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds while Rob Shaw added 15 points. 

Following a week off for the Holidays, NIU will return to action on Saturday, December 29, when it travels to No. 10/8 Michigan State in the first trip back to his alma mater for NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. Game time against the Spartans is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and will be televised on the Big Ten Network.