DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team heads back on the road on Saturday, Jan. 31, as the Huskies travel to Oxford, Ohio, to meet 24th-raranked, and undefeated, Miami. Game time against the RedHawks is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN+ as well as WDKB 94-9 FM.
The Huskies are coming off an 85-65 victory over Western Michigan at home on Tuesday night (Jan. 27).
Dylan Ducommun (Geneva, Switzerland) led the way for NIU against the Broncos with 21 points, including seven triples. Ducommun's seven threes are the most in a game by a Huskie since David Coit made eight in a victory over DePaul on Nov. 25, 2023.
As a team, NIU tied a school record with 15 three-point field goals against Western Michigan. That mark was originally set on Feb. 22, 2025, against Eastern Michigan.
Taj Walters (Bronx, N.Y./Moravian Prep) scored a new career-high 16 points in the victory over the Broncos while
Makhai Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) also netted 16 points. Valentine is averaging 17.0 points per game over the last seven games.
The RedHawks come into Saturday's contest with a 21-0 record and are one of two unbeaten teams left in the country, along with Arizona. Miami topped UMass, 86-84, in Oxford last time out (Jan. 27) for its 27th consecutive home victory.
Miami leads the nation in scoring at 94.1 points per game with six players scoring in double figures, led by Brant Byers at 15.1 points per contest. Miami also leads the country in effective field goal percentage (63.2 percent) and field goal percentage (53.7 percent), and rank second in three-point percentage (40.9 percent), behind Yale (41.4 percent).
Saturday's contest will be NIU's second game against an AP Top 25 ranked opponent this year; the Huskies met then 24th-ranked Wisconsin in Madison on Nov. 7. The last time NIU faced a ranked opponent in a conference game was on Jan. 22, 2019, when the Huskies scored a 77-75 victory over 14th-ranked Buffalo in DeKalb.
Following Saturday's contest, NIU will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 7, when the Huskies travel to Atlanta to take on Georgia State in the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge.
