DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team begins a home-and-home series against Buffalo on Thursday night, Feb. 24, when the Huskies host the Bulls at 7 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center. The Buffalo game is a rescheduled contest from Jan. 4, tickets for the original date will be honored at Thursday's game.

Thursday's night is also Student Appreciation Night, with free pizza available to the first 150 student attending the game. As always, NIU students receive free admission with a valid student ID. 

The matchup with the Bulls will be the first of two between the two schools in three days as Buffalo and NIU will both head to Western New York for a Saturday afternoon (Feb. 26) contest. It will mark the first time the Huskies have played the same team in back-to-back games since the 2006-07 season, when NIU played Duquesne in consecutive games. 

NIU concludes a stretch of six games in 12 days with these back-to-back games against Buffalo. Last time out against Eastern Michigan, Keshawn Williams (Chicago Heights, Ill./Tulsa) scored a team-high 24 points, his eighth 20-plus point game of the season. Williams is currently sixth in the Mid-American Conference in scoring in league play, averaging 19.4 points per game. 

Trendon Hankerson is averaging 1.9 steals per contest, second-best in the MAC and 50th nationally. Hankerson is just four steals away from 10th on NIU's career steals list. 

The Bulls come into the home-and-home series with NIU at 17-8 overall, 11-4 in conference play. Buffalo won at Miami, 86-84, on Tuesday night (Feb. 22). Three players score in double figures for the Bulls, led by 19.0 points per game from Jeenathan Williams. Ronaldo Segu adds 15.0 points per contest while Josh Mballa is averaging 13.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. 

Buffalo is second in the MAC, and eighth nationally, in scoring at 81.6 points per game. The Bulls also rank second in the country in rebounding with 42.8 boards per contest, behind only Arizona (43.1).

Following Saturday's trip to Buffalo, NIU will return home for the final two games of the regular season as it hosts Kent State on Tuesday, March 1, and Ohio on Friday, March 4. Tickets for all remaining Huskie basketball home games are available online at NIUHuskies.com/MyHuskies or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).