DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team will welcome Eastern Michigan to the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon, March 2, at 2 p.m., when the Huskies host the Eagles. Saturday's contest will be Senior Day as NIU will honor its three seniors playing their final regular season home game. 

Saturday will also be "Star Wars Day," Relay for Life will be hosting an event prior to the game in the Convocation Center and NIU Athletics will be hosting a dedication ceremony for the newly renovated Nelson Club. 

Tickets for Saturday's game are available from the NIU Convocation Center Box Office, by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) or by visiting NIUHuskies.com/tickets. NIU faculty and staff can also receive a complimentary ticket for Saturday's contest by showing their OneCard at the Convocation Center Box Office. 

NIU (13-15, 6-9) enters Saturday's final regular season home game on the heels of a 70-65 victory over Western Michigan last time out (Feb. 26). Senior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) scored a team-best 16 points against the Broncos while also tying Travon Baker's (2012-16) school record of 126 career games played. 

Junior Noah McCarty (Rock Falls, Ill./Sterling Newman) finished just one rebound shy of his first career double-double in the victory, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Rod Henry-Hayes (Zion, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) also scored 12 points, going 4-of-4 from behind the three-point line. 

Senior Dante Thorpe (Washington, D.C./Triton College) also scored in double figures against Western Michigan, finishing with 11 points. Thorpe is shooting 53 percent from the field this season, the eighth-best mark in the nation among guards, and is shooting 52.9 percent for his career, which ranks eighth in NIU school history. 

Eastern Michigan brings a 13-15 overall record to DeKalb, including a 7-8 mark in conference play. EMU is coming off a 77-66 home setback against Central Michigan (Feb. 26). The Eagles have three players scoring in double figures, led by 14.0 points per game from Paul Jackson. Elijah Minnie adds 13.8 points per contest while James Thompson IV averages a double-double with 10.9 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.Eastern Michigan leads the MAC in blocked shots, averaging 4.7 per game; Boubacar Toure leads the Eagles, and ranks third in the MAC, with 1.4 blocks per contest. 

The home team has won each of the last eight games in the series, dating back to a 72-65 Eastern Michigan victory in DeKalb on Feb. 21, 2015.

Following Saturday's game, the Huskies will head on the road for the final two games of the regular season. NIU will visit Central Michigan on Tuesday, March 5, and Ball State on Friday, March 8.