DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team will play the second game of its two-game trip to the State of Ohio on Tuesday night, January 21, when the Huskies visit Kent State. Tipoff against the Golden Flashes is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN+.
NIU (9-9, 2-3 MAC) heads to Kent on the heels of a 66-64 setback at Bowling Green on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18). The Huskies held the Falcons to 32.8 percent (19-of-58) shooting, including 28 percent (7-of-25) from three-point range but were unable to overcome a 10-point advantage for Bowling Green in second chance points (18-8) and a nine-point edge from the free-throw line (21-12).
Senior
Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored a team-high 19 points to lead the way for the Huskies. German now has 1,932 career points and is just 64 points away from T.J. Lux (1995-2000; 1,996 points) for the NIU career scoring record.
Sophomore
Darius Beane (Carbondale, Ill./Southern Illinois) made his first career start at Bowling Green, playing a career high 31 minutes with eight points and four rebounds.
The Golden Flashes bring a 13-5 record into Tuesday's contest, including a 3-2 mark in conference play. Kent State has dropped its last two contests, on the road at Miami (77-74) and Western Michigan (67-63), but return home where it has a 9-0 record this season.
As a team, the Golden Flashes are scoring 79.0 points per game, third best in the MAC and 28th nationally. Kent State has five players scoring in double figures, led by Antonio Williams at 14.2 points per game. Danny Pippen adds 13.4 points per contest, Troy Simons and Anthony Roberts are both scoring 13.3 points per game while Philip Whittington chips in 10.1 points per game.
In the lone meeting between the two schools last season, Kent State claimed a 78-68 home victory against NIU (Jan. 19, 2019). Prior to last season's contest, NIU's previous four trips to Kent State had been decided by a total of eight points.
NIU will return home on Saturday, January 25, when the Huskies host Western Michigan at 3 p.m. Tickets for all remaining home games, including flex passes, are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling 815-753-PACK (7225).
