DEKALB, Ill. – Sophomore Tyler Cochran (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) led four Huskies in double figures as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team topped Chicago State, 64-54, on Friday evening (December 18) at the NIU Convocation Center. Cochran tied his career-high with 15 points while grabbing a career-best 12 rebounds for his second career double-double. 

Junior Darius Beane (Carbondale, Ill./Southern Illinois) scored 13 points, junior Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi) added 12 points and junior Adong Makuoi (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada/Daytona State College) chipped in 11 points and a career-high eight rebounds. 

"We closed in out," said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. "Our defense closed it out at the end, we made some key baskets at the end and our guys took care of the ball. We outrebounded them by 13, we just couldn't get separation, but we found a way to win. We have to continue to work on our three-point shots, we couldn't get separation because we couldn't make outside shots."

The Huskies held a 41-28 rebounding advantage in the contest and outscored the Cougars in the paint, 38-18. 

NIU (1-5) raced out to an early 7-0 lead as junior Zool Kueth (Gallatin, Tenn./Pratt CC) opened the contest with a triple, followed by baskets from sophomore Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill./Iowa Western CC) and Cochran. 

With the Huskies in front by a half-dozen, Chicago State (0-8) used a 9-2 burst to take a 12-11 lead before an old-fashioned three-point play from Cochran moving NIU back in front.  

Tied at 16, NIU used a 12-0 run to take a 28-16 lead. Makuoi opened the run with five points on a three-point play and a dunk off a feed from junior Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich./Middle Tennessee). Hankerson added a triple and Cochran connected on a short jumper before a Cougar timeout. After the timeout, junior Chinedu Kingsley Okanu (Gary, Ind./Vincennes University) capped the run with a bucket as the Huskies led by a dozen with 2:47 left before the intermission. 

Crump and Cochran each finished with a game-high four assists

The two teams then traded baskets until a triple by Chicago State at the buzzer cut the NIU advantage to nine, 32-23, at the break. 

Cochran and Makuoi each had seven points in the opening 20 minutes to lead the way for NIU; Xavier Johnson scored nine points to pace Chicago State in the first half. 

A pair of triples early in the second half pulled Chicago State within five, but a basket by Cochran and five-straight points from Beane helped the Huskies lead grow back to a dozen, 41-29, with 15:34 left. 

With NIU in front, 53-43, Chicago State used a 9-0 burst to cut the Huskie lead to just one, 53-52, with 4:10 remaining. 

NIU answered with a pair of layups from Beane to help the Huskies close the game with an 11-2 run. Makuoi and Cochran each added a bucket and the Huskies went 3-of-4 from the foul line in the final minute to earn the 10-point victory. 

Johnson finished with a game-high 23 points to lead Chicago State, Levelle Zeigler chipped in 10 points. 

NIU will return to conference play on Tuesday afternoon, December 22, as the Huskies travel to Toledo for the final game of 2020. Tipoff against the Rockets is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.