DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team will open play in the Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on Monday night, March 5, when the Huskies travel to Kent State. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN3. 

NIU is seeded 12th in the MAC and will be facing the Golden Flashes for just the second time in the conference tournament. The two teams met in the first round in 2009, a 64-61 Kent State victory in Cleveland.  

The Huskies will look to take momentum into the conference tournament after a dramatic, 66-65 victory over Ball State in the final game of the regular season on Friday (March 2). Sophomore Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) hit a pull-up jumper from just inside the three-point line with 12.4 seconds left to lift the Huskies to the victory. 

German finished with a game-high 25 points against the Cardinals, junior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) recorded his seventh career double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds. Bradley's 17 boards is the most by a Huskie in a game since Jordan Threloff pulled down 18 against Eastern Michigan on Feb. 20, 2014.

NIU outrebounded Ball State, 49-35, including 20-7 on the offensive end, resulting in a 19-4 edge in second chance points. Three different Huskies: juniors Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College), Anastasios Demogerontas (Orland Park, Ill./Moraine Valley CC) and German tied or set new season-highs for offensive rebounds against the Cardinals.

Kent State enters Monday's game with a 15-16 overall record, including a 9-9 mark in the conference, and are coming off a 67-65 setback at Akron on Friday night (March 2). Three players are scoring in double figures for Kent State, led by 17.0 points per game from Jaylin Walker. Kevin Zabo adds 12.6 points per game and Adonis De La Rosa chips in 11.9 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per contest.

The Golden Flashes are the defending MAC Tournament champions, winning last year's tournament as the No. 6 seed. 

NIU's last three trips to Kent State have been decided by a combined six points, including a 74-70 NIU overtime win in its last trip to Kent (Jan. 10, 2017).

The winner of Monday night's contest will advance to the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals and will face No. 4 seed Ball State on Thursday afternoon, March 8, at approximately 1:30 p.m. CT at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.