DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team will play the fourth game of its current eight-game road stretch on Saturday, Nov. 26, when the Huskies head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to face Northern Iowa. Game time against the Panthers is slated for 1 p.m. and will be available on ESPN+, SportsFan 1330 AM as well as The Varsity Network app.
NIU (2-4) closed its trip to Florida for the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off with an 86-61 victory over Long Island on Wednesday (Nov. 23).
Keshawn Williams (Chicago Heights, Ill./Tulsa) led the way with 28 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
David Coit (Columbus, N.J./Atlantic Cape CC) added 17 points in the victory over the Sharks, he has scored in double figures in five-of-six games this season.
Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill./Iowa Western CC) dished out a career-best 11 assists against LIU, it marked the first time a Huskie recorded 10-or-more since Laytwan Porter had 10 against Eureka on Nov. 21, 2015.
The Huskies shot a season-best 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from three-point range against the Sharks, with Coit knocking down five triples and Williams adding four.
UNI has a 1-3 overall record after dropping a pair of games at the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Mo., earlier this week. The Panthers fell to San Francisco, 75-69, and Grand Canyon, 69-67. Bowen Born leads the Panthers in scoring at 17.8 points per contest, Tytan Anderson adds 12.8 points, and a team-best 11.0 rebounds, per game.
The Panthers lead the all-time series against the Huskies, 14-8, but the two schools have met just once since 2009, and just three times since 1991. In the last meeting, UNI claimed a 64-54 victory in DeKalb on the season opener in 2019-20 (Nov. 9, 2019). Isaiah Brown scored 17 points to lead the way for the Panthers. Eugene German had 21 to pace the Huskies. NIU is looking for its first win over UNI since 1991.
Following Saturday's contest, the Huskies will continue their current eight-game road trip with a visit to Eastern Illinois on Wednesday, Nov. 30.
