DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team will play its eighth, and final, game of an eight-game road trip on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 17, when the Huskies travel to Richmond, Va., to face VCU. Game time against the Rams is slated for 3 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN+, as well as 94-9 WDKB and The Varsity Network app. 

NIU began its road trip on Nov. 17 with a contest at Georgia Tech. With its conclusion at VCU, the trip will have seen the Huskies play in seven different states and three different time zones, traveling approximately 16,000 miles. 

Last time out, NIU fell to 15th-ranked Gonzaga (Dec. 12). The Huskies trailed by just six at the half before the Bulldogs shot 50 percent from the field, and scored 52 points, in the second half to claim an 88-67 victory. Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich./Middle Tennessee) scored a career-high 20 points in the contest, going 8-of-10 from the field, and also tied a season-high with eight rebounds. 

Keshawn Williams (Chicago Heights, Ill./Tulsa) had a team-best 25 points at Gonzaga, along with a season-best eight rebounds. Williams is one of only three players in the Mid-American Conference, along with Lamar Norman Jr. (Western Michigan) and Jaylin Sellers (Ball State), to rank in the top-20 in the conference in field goal percentage, three-point percentage and free throw percentage. 

VCU comes into Saturday's contest with a 7-4 overall record after topping Radford on Wednesday (Dec. 14), 70-62. Two players score in double figures for the Rams, led by Adrian Baldwin Jr. at 14.2 points per game; Brandon Johns Jr. adds 12.8 points per contest. VCU ranks fifth in the country in free throw attempts, averaging 27.4 per game, and seventh in makes at 19.0 per contest.

Saturday's matchup will be the third all-time between NIU and VCU, but the first since 1973. The Huskies topped the Rams in DeKalb, 92-81, on Jan. 30, 1973, behind 42 points from Billy Harris, before VCU won at home in the return matchup the following season (Dec. 8, 1973). 

The Huskies will make their long-awaited return home on Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 20, when they host Albany at 1 p.m. Tuesday's contest is Pup Club Christmas Day, with a pregame kids zone with Santa. Fans can receive a free kids ticket (under 13) with the purchase of each adult ticket at the box office on the day of the game.