DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday, February 23, as the Huskies travel to Toledo to meet the Rockets. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT and will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
NIU (12-14, 5-8 MAC) will be in action for the first time in a week after having its bye in conference play this past Tuesday. With five games left in the regular season, the Huskies will meet each of their MAC West Division rivals once to close the campaign.
Both junior
Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) and senior
Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) moved up a spot on the NIU all-time scoring list last time out against Bowling Green. German moved into eighth with 1,403 career points while Bradley cracked the top-10 with 1,347 career points.
Bradley has appeared in 124 career games, having never missed a game in his Huskie career, and is currently tied for second in career games played with
Aaric Armstead (2013-17). Bradley is just two games behind
Travon Baker (2012-16) for the school games played record.
The Rockets have a 20-6 overall record and lead the MAC West at 8-5 in league play. Toledo have dropped two consecutive games, falling to Buffalo, 88-82, last Friday (Feb. 15) and at Eastern Michigan, 76-69, this past Tuesday (Feb. 19). Four players score in double figures for the Rockets, led by 15.9 points per game from Jaelan Sanford. Nate Navigato adds 12.5 points per contest, Marreon Jackson chips in 11.1 points per game and Luke Knapke is scoring 11.0 points per game.
NIU has won three of the last four against the Rockets in Toledo. The only Rocket win in that stretch came last season (Feb. 6, 2018) when the two teams were tied, 75-75, with 1:17 left until a late burst gave Toledo the five-point win, 82-77.
Following Saturday's contest, NIU will return home on Tuesday, February 26, as the Huskies host Western Michigan in their penultimate home game of the regular season. Tickets are available from the NIU Convocation Center Box Office, by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) or by visiting NIUHuskies.com/tickets.
