DEKALB, Ill. -- The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team suffered its first home loss in conference play on Saturday afternoon as the Huskies fell to Miami, 81-65, at the NIU Convocation Center. Miami led wire-to-wire in the contest, shooting 58.2 percent (32-of-55) from the field in the game. 

Sophomore Justin Thomas (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) scored a game-high 14 points for the Huskies, junior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) and sophomore Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) each added 10 points. 

"In all phases of the game Miami outplayed us," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "They came out with great energy and our sense of urgency at the beginning just wasn't there, our defense wasn't there. We missed some tough shots early, where the ball just wouldn't go in the basket, and I think that effected our defense and you can't do that. If you're not scoring that ball, you still have to defend the ball, and we didn't do that this afternoon."

Miami (13-10, 6-4 MAC) led by four in the early going before a 7-0 RedHawk burst pushed their lead to double-digits, 17-6, with 13:37 to play in the opening half. 

The RedHawk lead grew to as large as 19 with just under four minutes to play in the half before NIU closed the opening 20 minutes with a 10-1 run. 

Sophomore Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) started the Huskie run with a pair of free throws, Thomas added a layup, German made a pair from the line, followed by a layup, and Thomas finished the half with a pair of free throws as NIU cut the Miami lead to 38-28 at the break.

Miami shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the field in the opening 20 minutes while holding NIU to just 34.5 percent (10-of-29) shooting. 

NIU (10-13, 3-7 MAC) scored the first three points out of the intermission as the Huskies trimmed the Miami lead to just seven. A free throw from junior Lacey James (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rider) and a basket by Bradley helped cut the RedHawk lead to 38-31. 

James finished with nine points for the Huskies. 

Miami's lead was still seven when the RedHawks used a 10-3 burst to push their lead to 50-36 with just under 16 minutes left. 

Just before the midway point of the second half, Thomas brought the Huskies back within nine with a layup that trimmed the Miami lead to 58-49, but the RedHawks answered with a 13-2 run as they took a 71-51 lead with 6:13 left and cruised to the road win. 

Nike Sibande scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds to lead the RedHawks. Jalen Adaway added 17 points, Isaiah Coleman-Lands scored 16 points and Bam Bowman chipped in 10 points. 

NIU will return to the road on Tuesday, Feb. 6, when the Huskies travel to Toledo before opening a three-game homestand on Saturday, Feb. 10 against Buffalo. Tickets are on sale now through the NIU Athletics Ticket Office in the Convocation Center, by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) or online at NIUHuskies.com. Reserved lower bowl seats are just $10 while general admission is available for $8.