DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team makes an early start to Mid-American Conference play when it hosts Ball State on Tuesday night (Dec. 8) at the NIU Convocation Center. Tipoff against the Cardinals is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be available on ESPN3. 

Tuesday's league opener marks the earlier conference game for the Huskies since December 3, 2005, when the Huskies won at Toledo, 73-69. MAC play has not started until January in every season since the 2005-06 campaign. 

Last time out at Pittsburgh, junior Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi) tied a career-high with 18 points, going 7-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range. Hankerson, who led the MAC in three-point shooting a season ago, ranks seventh in the MAC in three-point percentage among players who have made at least two triples per contest this year, shooting 42.9 percent. 

Junior Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich./Middle Tennessee) made his first start as a Huskie at Pittsburgh, playing a career-best 31 minutes while tying a career-high with nine rebounds. Sophomore Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill./Iowa Western CC) had a career-high five assists against the Panthers, Thornton had led NIU in assists in all three games this season. 

Ball State comes to DeKalb with a 1-2 overall record after picking up its first victory, 68-66 over UIC, last time out. The Cardinals opened the season with setbacks against Northern Kentucky and Michigan. K.J. Walton leads the way for the Cardinals offensively with 24.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Ishmael El-Amin is also scoring in double figures at 15.7 points per contest.

Although fans are unable to attend NIU basketball games this season, you can still make your presence felt in the NIU Convocation Center by purchasing a cutout as part of the "Huskie Howl" presented by First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO). For just $60, fans can put their image on a cutout that will remain in place in the NIU Convocation Center for all NIU men's and women's basketball games during the 2020-21 season. Net proceeds from all fan cutouts will benefit the Huskie Athletic Fund.