DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team will return to the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 18, for the annual "Cram the Convo" doubleheader. The Huskie women's basketball team will host Ball State at 1 p.m., followed by the NIU men's basketball game against Miami at 3:30 p.m.

The first 1,000 fans in attendance when the doors open at 12 p.m. will receive a pair of NIU black winter gloves, courtesy of Northwestern Medicine. Fans are also encouraged to wear black for Saturday's doubleheader. 

Saturday's matchup against the RedHawks will also be available on ESPN3, as well as 94-9 WDKB and The Varsity Network app. 

With five games left in the regular season, the Huskies are currently tied for fifth with Ohio in the Mid-American Conference standings. The top eight in the MAC will qualify for the conference tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, March 9-11. 

The Huskies fell last time out at Ball State, 87-77, snapping their four game road winning streak. David Coit (Columbus, N.J.) scored a team-high 22 points and tied a career-high with six assists against the Cardinals. Coit made six triples in the contest, also tying a career-high, and now has 75 three-point field goals this season, the fourth-best single-season total in NIU history. 

Coit is averaging 2.9 made threes per game, second-best in the MAC behind only Akron's Xavier Castaneda (3.5), and 32nd nationally. Coit has scored in double figures in nine consecutive games and is averaging 19.8 points per game during that stretch. 

The RedHawks come to DeKalb with an 8-18 overall record, including a 2-11 mark in MAC play. Three players score in double figures for Miami, led by Mekhi Lairy's 17.6 points per game. Morgan Safford adds 15.6 points per contest and Anderson Mirambeaux is scoring 13.5 points per contest. Miami leads the MAC, and ranks 13th in the country, in free throw percentage at 77.5 percent.

As a team, NIU has made 199 three-pointers this season, the sixth-best single-season in school history. Darweshi Hunter (Phoenix, Ariz.) is shooting 42.5 percent (37-of-87) from three this season, sixth-best in the MAC. In league play, Hunter is shooting 46.9 percent (30-of-64) from three, third-best in the conference. 

NIU won the first meeting of the season between the two teams, 81-77, in Oxford (Jan. 17). Four players scored in double figures for NIU, led by 21 points from Coit. Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J.) added 16 points, and a team-high eight rebounds, Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill.) scored 13 points and Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich.) chipped in 11 points.

Following Saturday's contest, NIU will head on the road for its final two road games of the season. The Huskies will visit Ohio on Tuesday, Feb. 21, before traveling to Central Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 25.