DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team will host Western Michigan on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 11, at 3 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center. Tickets are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225). Saturday's contest will also be available on ESPN3, 94-9 WDKB and The Varsity Network app. 

NIU enters play this weekend with a 6-5 Mid-American Conference record, tied with Buffalo for fifth place in the conference standings. Last time out against Ohio, Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill.) netted a career-high tying 21 points, along with a game-high eight assists. Thornton is currently third in the MAC with 4.4 assists per game and his 1.63 assist/turnover ratio is ranked fifth in the conference. 

David Coit (Columbus, N.J.) is averaging a team-best 17.6 points per game in conference play, ninth-best in the MAC. Coit is leading the league in free throw shooting at 94.4 percent (34-of-36) in league play. He has scored in double figures in 11 of the last 13 games. 

Over the last eight games, Darweshi Hunter (Phoenix, Ariz.) is shooting 54.8 percent (23-of-42) from three-point range and averaging 12.4 points per game. Hunter has made at least three triples in five of those eight games. 

In conference play, the Huskies are averaging 73.8 points per game, shooting 47 percent from the field, third-best in the MAC, and 36.8 percent from three-point range, also third-best in the conference. 

The Broncos come to DeKalb with a 6-18 overall record, including a 2-9 mark in league play. Western Michigan is coming off an 85-78 setback at Miami on Tuesday night (Feb. 7). Western Michigan leads the MAC in rebounding margin at +6.4, which ranks 20th nationally, and leads the conference with 12.7 offensive rebounds per game, 22nd in the country.

In the first meeting of the season, just 10 days ago in Kalamazoo, the Huskies led wire-to-wire for a 73-59 victory. Thornton scored a team-high 15 points while Coit and Zarique Nutter each added 13. Coit also grabbed a career-best eight rebounds. NIU held Western Michigan to just 29.4 percent (10-of-34) shooting in the first half, including 0-of-12 from three-point range.

NIU will head back on the road on Tuesday night, Feb. 14, when the Huskies travel to Ball State before returning to the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday, Feb. 18, against Miami as part of the annual "Cram the Convo" doubleheader.