IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team ran up against one of the best teams in the nation on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 13) as the Huskies fell to third-ranked Iowa, 106-53, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

Junior Adong Makuoi (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada/Daytona State College) scored a career-high 14 points and junior Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich./Middle Tennessee State) tied his career-high with 10 points for the Huskies. 

"We have to credit Iowa, they have so much balance, so much size, so much shooting," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "If you aren't matching them shot for shot, or stop for stop, it is hard to stay with them. I was happy with how we took care of the basketball in the first half, we got off to a good start, and this was a great opportunity to play against a top-five team in the country. 

"It was good seeing Adong (Makuoi) and (Anthony) Crump score in double figures. Adong made his baseline jumper and a couple of jump hooks and had to battle against (Luka) Garza every time down the floor. For Crump to see some shots go in should build his confidence, so credit those two guys for stepping up and continuing to fight throughout the game."

NIU (0-5, 0-1 MAC) got off to a good start as the Huskies opened 4-of-5 from the field with buckets from Makuoi, junior Darius Beane (Carbondale, Ill./Southern Illinois), junior Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi) and sophomore Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill./Iowa Western CC) helped the Huskies take an 8-6 lead into the first media timeout. 

Hankerson finished with eight points and a career best seven rebounds while Thornton had six points and three assists. 

Another bucket by Thornton gave NIU a 10-8 advantage before Iowa used a 15-0 run to take a 23-10 lead before Crump finished at the rim to slow the Hawkeye burst just past the midway point of the opening 20 minutes. 

Iowa (6-0) shot 55.9 percent (19-of-34) in the first half, including 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from three-point range, as the Hawkeyes built a 51-27 lead at the intermission.

National Player of the Year candidate Luka Garza led all scorers with 14 points in the first half, Joe Wieskamp added 12 points for the Hawkeyes. Makuoi had eight points to pace the Huskies in the opening stanza. 

The Hawkeyes remained hot from the field in the second half, shooting 56.4 percent (22-of-39) after the break to finish the contest at 56.2 percent (41-of-73) from the field. 

Garza led all scorers with 23 points in the contest, while also grabbing a game-high eight rebounds. Wieskamp added 20 points, Patrick McCaffery scored 14 points and Keegan Murray chipped in 10 points for the Hawkeyes. 

NIU will finish non-conference play on Friday, December 18, when the Huskies host Chicago State. Game time against the Cougars is slated for 6 p.m.