DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team will make the short trek to Chicago on Saturday (Nov. 23) as the Huskies face DePaul at Wintrust Arena. Game time against the Blue Demons is slated for 4 p.m. and will be available on Fox Sports 2 and on radio in DeKalb on WDKB 94-9 FM. 

NIU is making the trip to Wintrust Arena for the second consecutive season as the Huskies toppled the Blue Demons, 89-79, on the road last season (Nov. 25, 2023). David Coit scored a game-high 34 points as the Huskies improved to 3-4 against DePaul in the last seven meetings, dating back to 2004. 

Last time out against Elon, James Dent Jr. (Springfield, Ill./Springfield Southeast) led the way with 16 points for the Huskies. Dent, who is shooting 55 percent (22-of-40) from the field and 50 percent (13-of-26) from three-point range, is averaging 14.0 points per game, second behind only Quentin Jones' (Chicago, Ill./Marian Catholic) 14.4 points per contest. 

Quaran McPherson (South Jamaica Queens, N.Y./Link Year Prep) had nine points off the bench against the Phoenix. McPherson is averaging 8.5 points per game over the last four contests, shooting 60 percent (12-of-20) from the floor.

The Blue Demons come into Saturday's contest with a 5-0 record following a 78-69 victory over Eastern Illinois last time out (Nov. 19). Each of DePaul's first five games have come at home. Isaiah Rivera leads DePaul in scoring at 16.0 points per game. Jacob Meyer is averaging 15.4 points per contest while David Skogman adds 11.0 points, and a team-high 7.0 rebounds, per game. 

Chris Holtmann is in his first season as head coach at DePaul. Holtmann has previously been the head coach at Gardner-Webb (2010-13), Butler (2014-17) and Ohio State (2017-24).

Last year's victory was just the second all-time for the Huskies on the road against DePaul. NIU's first road win against the Blue Demons was an 84-69 win at Allstate Arena on Nov. 27, 2004. This season's matchup will be the 34th all-time meeting between NIU and DePaul. 

Following Saturday's contest, NIU will remain on the road for the next two as the Huskies travel to Valparaiso on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and Eastern Illinois on Friday, Nov. 29.