DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team travels to Mount Pleasant, Mich., on Saturday, Feb. 25, for the final road game of the season. The Huskies and Central Michigan will tip at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday and the contest will be available on ESPN3, along with 94-9 WDKB and The Varsity Network app. 

Saturday's matchup is the second road game of the week for the Huskies, who visited Ohio on Tuesday (Feb. 21), falling to the Bobcats, 77-68. Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich.) recorded his second consecutive double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Ohio. Crump has posted double-doubles in three of the last four games and is averaging 13.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game during that stretch. 

Darweshi Hunter (Phoenix, Ariz.) netted a team-high 17 points against the Bobcats. Hunter has scored in double figures in six consecutive games and is averaging 13.5 points per contest in the last six. 

Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill.) nearly had a double-double at Ohio as he finished with 10 points and nine assists. Thornton is averaging 4.9 assists per game, third-best in the MAC and 51st in the country. In league play, Thornton leads the MAC with 6.4 assists per game, he also leads the league with 2.4 steals per game in conference play. 

NIU has two other statistical leaders in conference play as Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia) leads the MAC in field goal percentage, shooting 81 percent, and David Coit (Columbus, N.J.) leads the way from the free-throw line, shooting 94.4 percent. 

The Chippewas come into Saturday's game with a 10-18 overall record, 5-10 in league play. Central Michigan fell at Buffalo, 63-35, last time out (Feb. 21). CMU leads the MAC with 3.9 blocks per game. The Chippewas are also second in the league in three-point defense, holding opponents to 33.3 percent shooting, and second in field goal defense at 42.9 percent.

NIU won the first meeting of the season against Central Michigan in DeKalb as Coit scored a game-high 23 points and Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J.) added a career-best 22 in a 73-54 victory on Jan. 10. NIU has won three of the last four overall in the series against Central Michigan. 

Following Saturday's contest, the Huskies will return home for the final two games of the regular season as NIU hosts Buffalo on Tuesday, Feb. 28 and Eastern Michigan on Friday, March 3. Tickets for NIU's two remaining home games are available now by logging on to NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225).