DEKALB, Ill. – After falling behind by as much as 19 early in the second half, the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team rallied to within seven before falling to Buffalo, 85-75, on Tuesday night (Feb. 28) at the NIU Convocation Center. David Coit (Columbus, N.J.) and Darweshi Hunter (Phoenix, Ariz.) each scored 18 to lead the way for the Huskies. 

Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich.) added 13 points while Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia) and Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill.) each netted 10, Thornton also recorded nine assists. 

"Disappointed in our effort to start the game," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "We have played well to start over the last month-and-a-half. The start of this game reminded us of what it was like in the early part of the season. We stayed out of harm's way for a large part of the second half of the year with good starts, but tonight I don't think we had the right mindset to go out and play against a desperate team who had a lot to play for."

A 9-0 run early in the contest helped give Buffalo a 9-2 lead inside the opening four minutes. 

After Buffalo took a 19-8 lead, Coit, returning after missing the last three games, knocked in a triple and Ibarguen finished at the rim to bring the Huskies back within a half-dozen, 19-13, with 12:37 left in the half. 

Buffalo used another 9-0 run to increase its advantage to 31-15 with a little less than six minutes to play before the intermission. The two teams would trade baskets the remainder of the half as the Bulls would take a 16-point lead, 42-26, into the break. 

Isaiah Adams led all scorers with 13 points for Buffalo, Curtis Jones added 10 for the Bulls. Coit scored nine points, on 3-of-5 from three, to pace the Huskies. Buffalo shot 58.1 percent (18-of-31) from the field, including 41.7 percent (5-of-12) in the opening 20 minutes.

Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J.) scored on each of the first two possessions of the second half for the Huskies, but Buffalo made its first four shots to open the half. 

NIU trimmed the Buffalo lead to a dozen, 68-56, when Coit got a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup with six minutes left to play, forcing a Buffalo timeout. Following the timeout, the Huskies got a stop and then Hunter canned a trifecta, off an assist from Thornton, to bring NIU within nine, 68-59. 

After a pair of Buffalo free throws, Thornton scored and then found Ibarguen for a bucket, bringing the Bulls lead down to just 70-63 with 3:57 remaining. The visitors answered with the next six, however, as they earned the road victory and clinched a spot in Cleveland for the conference tournament.

Jones finished with a game-high 21 to lead the Bulls, Adams added 20 while LaQuill Hardnett scored 15 points. Buffalo shot 54.2 percent (32-of-59) from the field in the contest. 

NIU will close the regular season on Friday, March 3, as the Huskies host Eastern Michigan on Senior Night at 7 p.m. Tickets are available now by logging on to NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225).