MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- Four players scored in double figures, led by 17 points from Keshawn Williams (Chicago Heights, Ill./Tulsa) but the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team fell, 80-66, to Marquette on Saturday night (Nov. 27) at Fiserv Forum.

The Golden Eagles shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the field and held a 20-9 edge from the free-throw line.

Zool Kueth (Gallatin, Tenn./Pratt CC) added 14 points, Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill./Iowa Western CC) scored 12 points and tied a career-high with seven rebounds while Adong Makuoi (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada/Daytona State College) chipped in 10 points.

"I'm happy with our intensity and our attention to detail," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "I told the guys in the locker room, we are getting close, we just have to make sure we don't have 'loud' turnovers. We had an opportunity to cut the lead to single digits with 17 seconds (left in the first half), we threw an ill-advised lob. (Marquette) came down and scored, so instead of being down seven or eight, we were down 11. Just trying to teach these guys that every possession matters, especially against a high-major opponent."

Marquette (6-1) scored the first four points of the contest, but NIU answered with the next seven as the Huskies led at the first media timeout. Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi) opened the scoring for the visitors with a triple before Thornton added a layup and Makuoi finished at the rim to give the Huskies the early three-point advantage.

NIU trailed by three before a floater from Williams trimmed the Marquette lead to 13-12 with 11:31 left in the opening half. 

After the Marquette lead grew to five, a free throw from Kueth and a dunk off a turnover by Williams brought the Huskies back within a pair. Marquette answered with a bucket before Kueth connected on a trifecta from the wing as the Golden Eagles were in front by just one, 21-20, with just under eight minutes left before the intermission. 

Marquette answered with a 12-0 run to take a 33-20 advantage before Makuoi snapped the run. 

The bucket from Makuoi ignited an 8-3 burst for the Huskies, Williams knocked in a triple and Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich./Middle Tennessee) added an old-fashioned three-point play as NIU trimmed the Marquette advantage to just eight. The Golden Eagles scored the final three points of the opening stanza to take a 39-28 lead into halftime. 

Justin Lewis had 11 for Marquette to lead all scorers in the opening 20 minutes, Williams has seven for the Huskies. 

NIU played Marquette even for the first six minutes of the second half, but back-to-back triples by the Golden Eagles increased Marquette's lead to 56-39 with just over 12 minutes to play. 

The Huskies scored the next four, but Marquette answered back with an 11-2 spurt as they went on to the victory. 

Lewis finished with a team-high 15 points for Marquette, Stevie Mitchell chipped in 11 points while Darryl Morsell and Tyler Kolek each added 10 points.

NIU will return home on Wednesday, Dec. 1 for the home opener against Eastern Illinois. Tip time against the Panthers is scheduled for 7 p.m. 

"We are finally going to have a home game and my guys are excited, I am excited," said Burno. "We are close, we just have to continue to get better on the defensive end. The offense is starting to come around, I think we are moving in the right direction."

Season tickets for the 2021-22 basketball season are on sale now beginning at just $80 for Huskieland general admission tickets in sections 115-118 (minimum of four tickets required to purchase). Reserved season tickets for Huskie men's basketball are available for $120. Season tickets can be purchased online at NIUHuskies.com/MyHuskies or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).