DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team earned its second consecutive victory as the Huskies topped Clarke University, 82-43, on Wednesday night (Nov. 11) in the home opener.
Max Weisbrod (DeForest, Wis./DeForest) had a game-high 14 points while
Brayden Gross (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville HS) recorded his sixth career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
"Three-of-10 from the foul line and 9-of-41 from three is not how we are going to have to play basketball to be successful," said NIU head coach Matt Majkrzak. "The turnovers in the first half we a little frustrating, I thought we looked a little lethargic, part of that is mental, coming off a big win and playing a non-D1 opponent. Physically, we are just a tired and sore still, which is a little scary … I thought we should have had a little more juice than that. Saying that, if make a few more threes and a couple free throws, the score would have looked exactly like you could have dreamed it looking like.
"Really proud of the rebounding, 63-24, I don't care who you are playing, that's pretty good."
NIU (2-2) scored the first seven points to open the contest as
Trevor Polite (Mequon, Wis./Homestead) netted five and grabbed three rebounds in the opening minutes of the contest. Clarke pulled within three, 9-6, before
Jack Daugherty (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield Central) knocked in a triple from the wing to push the Huskie lead back to a half-dozen with 12:53 to play in the opening half.
Daugherty finished with eight points and four rebounds.
The Huskies led by a pair, 12-10, before back-to-back buckets from Weisbrod and
David Douglas Jr. (Park Forest, Ill./Yorkville Christian) pushed the advantage back to a half-dozen just past the midway point of the first 20 minutes.
Douglas had nine points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
Clarke trimmed the NIU lead to 20-18 with just over seven minutes to play in the half before NIU went on a 14-2 run.
Bennett Basich (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) and Daugherty each had five points during the run as the Huskies took a 34-20 lead with 2:13 left before the intermission.
Basich finished with seven points, six rebounds and four assists.
NIU took a 36-24 lead into halftime, Daugherty led the way with eight points in the opening stanza for the Huskies. NIU outrebounded Clarke 35-10 in the first half, including 15-2 on the offensive end, leading to a 17-0 advantage in second chance points. Jonovan Howard had 10 points for Clarke to lead all scorers in the first half.
The Huskies scored the first seven to open the second half as Douglas and Weisbrod made baskets before a corner triple from
Nino Carter-Smith (Detroit, Mich./Warren De La Salle) as the NIU lead grew to 43-26 less than three minutes into the second period.
A six-point burst on baskets from Basich, Gross and
Mykolas Ivanauskas (Chicago, Ill./Sunrise Christian Academy) gave NIU a 52-32 advantage with just under 13 minutes left to play.
Weisbrod had 12 of his 14 points in the second half as the Huskies pulled away from the Pride.
Howard finished with 10 points for Clarke. NIU outrebounded the Pride 63-24 in the contest, including 28-4 on the offensive end, leading to a 32-0 advantage in second chance points. The Huskies also had a 52-12 edge in points in the paint.
NIU will head back on the road beginning on Saturday, Nov. 14, as the Huskies travel to Bellarmine. Game time against the Knights is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
