DEKALB, Ill. – After spending nearly a month on the road, the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team returns home to the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon, December 21, as the Huskies host Green Bay. Tipoff against the Phoenix is slated for 1 p.m. 

NIU Athletics will be holding a canned food drive at Saturday's game, fans can purchase a discounted $5 ticket by bringing a canned food item to the NIU Convocation Center Box Office. 

The Huskies bring a 7-5 record into Saturday's matchup after topping Chicago State, 75-60, on Thursday night (Dec. 19) in Chicago. Senior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored a game-high 22 points in the victory over the Cougars to eclipse the 1,800-point mark in his career. German, who currently ranks 32nd nationally at 20.3 points per game this season, has 1,812 career points, fourth-most in school history and eighth best among active players in NCAA Division I.

Freshman Tyler Cochran (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) netted a career-best 14 points at Chicago State, going 6-of-7 from the field against the Cougars.

Saturday's game will see brothers play against each other as NIU sophomore Trendon Hankerson's (Novi, Mich./Novi) older brother, Kameron, is a senior on the Green Bay men's basketball team. The matchup is one of three in Division I this season that matches brothers against each other in a regular season game. Tristen Newton of East Carolina met his brother, Jawaun, of Evansville on November 22 while Army's Tommy Funk meets his brother, Andrew, of Bucknell twice during Patriot League play.

Green Bay comes to DeKalb with a 4-8 overall record after dispatching Concordia-Chicago, 126-64, on Wednesday night (Dec. 18). Five players are scoring in double figures for the Phoenix, led by 16.6 points per game from Amari Davis. JayQuan McCloud adds 14.2 points per contest, Kameron Hankerson is chipping in 11.4 points per game, PJ Pipes is scoring 11.3 points per contest and Jiovanni Miles adds 11.0 points per game. 

As a team, Green Bay is averaging 82.4 points per game, tops in the Horizon League and 16th-best nationally, as the Phoenix play to the 16th-fastest tempo in the country, averaging 75.3 possessions per game. 

This will be the 32nd all-time meeting between NIU and Green Bay. It is the third consecutive year the two schools have met after playing just twice in the previous 20 years. Last season, the Phoenix edged the Huskies, 85-83, in Green Bay (Nov. 28, 2018). 

Following Saturday's non-conference finale, the Huskies will turn their attention to Mid-American Conference play, which begins on Saturday, January 4 at Buffalo.