Game Day Quick Facts:
Northern Illinois vs. Eastern Michigan
Game Time: 7:05 p.m. (CST)

Television: None

Radio: The Huskie Sports Radio Network will be on the air for Wednesday’s game against Eastern Michigan University. Bill Baker handles the play-by-play duties, with Sid Simmons providing color commentary. Stations covering the game include: WLBK-AM 1360 - DeKalb; WBIG-AM 1280 - Chicagoland; WRHL-AM 1060 - Rochelle; WSEY-FM 95.7 - Rockford, Freeport; WMKB-FM 102.9 - LaSalle-Peru.

Coaches: Rob Judson (Illinois ’80) is 35-38 in his third season at Northern Illinois. Jim Boone (West Virginia State ’81) is in his fourth season at Bowling Green and is 29-68 all-time. Judson is 4-0 all-time vs. Eastern Michigan, while Boone is 0-6 versus the Huskies.

About Eastern Michigan University
The Eagles are flying high after rallying from a 10-point half time deficit to topple Central Michigan 71-68 on the road ... After opening the season at 2-4, EMU has won four of its last five contests, including a 47-point win against Navy ... Chicago, IL, native John Bowler leads the Falcons in scoring at 13.7 ppg., while his 7.7 rebounds ranks second ... A balanced scoring team, EMU has four players in double figures as James “Boo” Jackson (13.1), JaQuan Hart (11.9) and Markus Austin (11.3) pace the Eagle offensive attack ... A strong defensive team as well, EMU leads the MAC in steals with 10.3 thefts per game, led by Michael Ross’ 2.7 swipes a contest ... The Huskies and Eagles have had two common opponents this season ... EMU lost at Illinois State (Dec. 6) 80-69 and at Bowling Green 84-68 on Jan. 3.

The NIU Series With Eastern Michigan
Northern Illinois University enjoys a 17 game advantage (39-22) in its series with Eastern Michigan University ... The Huskies have won six straight games over their visitors from Ypsilanti, MI, including an 88-79 defeat in the NIU Convocation Center last season ... Marcus Smallwood was nothing short of dominant in that contest, as he poured in 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting to go with 18 rebounds ... Todd Peterson and P.J. Smith joined Smallwood in the scoring barrage, as Peterson hit 5-of-9 treys to score 19 points, while Smith added 16 including 7-of-8 shooting at the charity stripe.

Huskie Quick Takes
Northern Illinois will look to extend its six game home winning streak ... A perfect 5-0 at the Convocation Center this season, NIU’s home-court streak dates back to a March 10, 2003, win over Buffalo (81-64) in the MAC Tournament opener ... The Huskies haven’t just won at home this season, they have been dominant as they have outscored their opponents by a margin of 17 points (77.2-60.2) in those five games ... Keeping with streaks, the Huskies own a six-game winning streak over Eastern Michigan dating back to 1999-2000 season ... The last loss for the Huskies against EMU was a 79-69 defeat on Feb. 26, 2000 ... NIU has also won four straight against the Eagles at home dating back to Jan. 16, 1999, when Northern Illinois fell 76-62 ... With his 22-point effort against Bowling Green (Jan. 10) Marcus Smallwood moved past Chris Coleman (1994-97) for 18th on the NIU career scoring list ... Smallwood now has 1,101 career points and is just 10 tallies behind NIU Hall of Famer George Bork for 17th ... Against Akron and Bowling Green, Smallwood averaged 20.0 points and 7.0 rebounds to lead the Huskies ... Smallwood’s 40 points in two games is his best two-game scoring stretch of the season and highest back-to-back scoring average since his sophomore season ... Smallwood continues to rank among the nation’s top rebounders ... With his 10.4 rpg. average, Smallwood ranks 14th nationally and is one of just two players 6-foot-6 and under t o average double figures on the glass ... After seeing his scoring average dip to 9.4 ppg. following a Dec. 20 loss vs. San Jose State, P.J. Smith is averaging 16.2 points in his last six contests, including 20-point outings vs. St. Francis (Dec. 30) and BYU-Hawaii (Dec. 20) and an 18-point performance at Akron ... In the four Mid-American Conference games, Smith leads all Huskies with a 15.8 ppg. scoring average ... Smith’s scoring surge has also helped him move up the NIU scoring chart ... While the Maywood, IL, native has already topped 1,000 points for his collegiate career, he has 948 points in an NIU uniform and needs just 52 tallies to become the 24th player in NIU history to top the 1,000-point plateau ... Smith has scored 1,212 career points, but 264 of those came in an Illinois State Redbird uniform during his freshman season ... Currently, Smith is 29th in career scoring at NIU ... Smallwood topped 1,000 points earlier this season on Dec. 19 vs. San Jose State and Smith’s upcoming milestone will make them the first set of teammates to top 1,000 career points since Leon Rodgers (1998-2002) and Mike Brown (1997-2001) ... The last set of teammates to eclipse 1,000 points in the same season were Billy Harris (1,331) and Jim Bradley (1,134) in 1972-73 ... James Hughes registered two more blocks vs. Bowling Green (1-10-04) to push his season total to 28 ... Hughes has had at least one block in 13-of-14 games this season and has had multiple blocks eight times.

About Head Coach Rob Judson
Rob Judson is in his third season at the helm of the Northern Illinois men’s basketball program and owns a career record of 35-38 ... With the 35 wins in just over two seasons, the Huskies actually have one more victory than the 34 wins they attained during the four seasons prior to Judson’s arrival ... Those 35 wins also tie him for 10th all-time on the NIU coaching wins list with Gilman Hertz (1950-54) who racked up a 35-44 record ... Judson accumulated a 29-30 record through his first-two seasons at NIU ... Only Jim Molinari won more games in his first-two seasons at NIU against intercollegiate opponents ... With Judson as an assistant coach, Molinari’s Huskies went 42-17 in 1989-91, his lone two seasons as head coach ... Roland Cowell also won 29 games against intercollegiate competition from 1926-28, his first two seasons at NIU ... The Huskies have performed well on the road during the Judson era ... After going 5-9 on the road in his first season (2001-02), the Huskies went 8-6 on foreign courts last year including a stretch of seven consecutive road wins in the MAC from Jan. 8 to Feb. 15 ... After taking over a program that won only five games the year before his arrival, Judson’s teams have enjoyed immediate success, winning 12 games in his first season and 17 last year ... Judson’s squad has also fared well in the Mid-American Conference, going 20-18 over his tenure ... Among active coaches, only Charlie Coles of Miami-Ohio (22-14) and Tim Buckley of Ball State (23-13) won more MAC games than Judson in their first two seasons.

Free Throws Tell The Tale
If the Huskies have learned anything lately, it is that free throws add up ... NIU is being outshot 345-255 at the line, and face a 72-point season deficit at the charity stripe ... Standing alone, that stat is important, but when a team has lost six of eight games by a single-digit margin, it becomes paramount ... In six of NIU’s eight defeats, the Huskies have been outshot at the free throw line... In those six games, all single-digit defeats, opponents have hit 138-of-192 free throws ... That’s a per game average of 23-of-32 ... Conversely, NIU is 63-90 total in those six games, an average of 10.5-of-15 per contest ... When you break the numbers down, NIU is being outscored by 12.5 points per game at the line in its six single-digit defeats.

Free Throws Continued
One positive about the free throw line has been NIU’s recent improvement ... After opening 1-of-8 from the free throw line against Ohio (Jan. 3), the Huskies are shooting 81.3 percent (39-of-48) in the last two and a half games ... NIU finished 15-of-18 from the line against Ohio and was 7-of-9 at Akron (Jan. 10) ... Northern Illinois’ best day at the stripe was at Bowling Green (Jan. 14) when they hit 17-of-21 charity shots (81.0 percent).

Huskies Road Search Getting Closer
The numbers are improving and the team is getting closer, but the Huskies haven’t quite gotten over their road woes yet ... While they dropped a pair of games at Akron (preseason favorite in the MAC East) and at Bowling Green (preseason runner up in the MAC West), NIU saw its numbers across the board improve ... During a 5-of-6 losing skid in early December, the Huskies averaged 18.5 turnovers and shot just 28.9 percent from three-point range ... In the two road games at Akron and Bowling Green, NIU averaged just 13.5 turnovers and shot 35.1 percent from three-point range ... While the numbers aren’t quite where they need to be, the Huskies are showing improvement and could bust out of this uncharacteristic road slump at any moment.

Calling Up The Reserves
After seeing limited action earlier in the season, NIU reserves Ryan Paradise and Johnathan Byrd have seen increased “PT” during the MAC season ... Averaging 8.6 minutes of playing time during the BYU-Hawaii Surf N’ Slam Invitational, Paradise has become a fixture in the NIU backcourt since the team’s arrival ... Averaging 14.6 minutes per game on the year, the Naperville, IL, native is averaging 19.3 minutes a game in his last three contests ... Included in those games was a season high 11-point effort against Ohio (Jan. 3) ... A little-used power forward prior to the New Year, Byrd gave NIU a defensive lift in the recent road trip to Akron and Bowling Green ... In the last two games, Byrd has set career highs in minutes (14 vs. Akron, 22 vs. Bowling Green) and set a career high with two blocks against Akron ... Against Bowling Green, Byrd scored a career high tying four points.

Mr. Smith Goes To The Hoop
The first half of December was forgettable for P.J. Smith ... NIU’s most creative scorer, Smith had just one double-figure scoring game (17 at Marshall) in the month’s first 19 days as his scoring average plummeted from 15.7 ppg. to 9.4 ppg. following a 53-41 loss to San Jose State on Dec. 19 ... Sandwiching that 17-point night at Marshall were three-point performances vs. Illinois-Chicago (Dec. 5), at Iowa (Dec. 6) and at home against Cornell College (Dec. 15) ... The Maywood, IL, native had his lowest scoring night in over a year, when he opened the Surf N’ Slam Invitational with a two-point outing against San Jose State ... Since that game, however, Smith has taken off offensively, reaching double-figures each of the last six games including 20-point efforts vs. BYU-Hawaii (Dec. 20) and St. Francis (Dec. 30) ... Following a 15-point afternoon against Ohio, Smith exploded for 18 points at Akron and 13 first-half points at Bowling Green ... In his last five games, Smith is averaging 16.2 points on 46.6 percent shooting and is taking 12.2 shots per game ... During his slump, Smith wasn’t even looking to the hoop, as he averaged just 6.4 shots a contest.

Home Sweet Home
The NIU Convocation Center has become a beautiful site for the Huskies as they are a perfect 5-0 on the season in their friendly confines ... In addition to the unblemished record, the rims and nets have been a little more friendly as well ... Below is a breakdown of NIU’s per game averages in its five games at the Convo and its seven games away from it.

Paulsen Adds Versatility To NIU Post
From his five-point performance against Baylor (Dec. 22), to his six-point night at Akron (Jan. 7), freshman Paige Paulsen as seen a steady increase in playing time since the team’s return from Hawaii ... After logging a career high 12 minutes against Cornell College, one more than his season total of 11, Paulsen has played double-figure minutes in two of the last three games, including 10 vs. Akron on Wednesday ... Against the Zips, Pauslen scored a career high six first-half points on 2-of-3 shooting from three-point land.

Paying His Dues, Thompson Sees Increased Playing Time
The consummate team player, Walter Thompson has paid his dues for Northern Illinois in his first three seasons and is seeing increased playing time as a return ... Thompson played in just nine games last season and logged just 41 total minutes ...
This season, Thompson has already played in 11 games and is averaging 5.0 minutes a game.

ESPN, Jay Bilas Show Smallwood The Love
NIU senior forward Marcus Smallwood was named the most underrated/underappreciated player in the Mid-American Conference by ESPN’s Jay Bilas ... Here is what Bilas had to say about Smallwood ... “Smallwood is an outstanding post player who commands defensive attention. He is a terrific rebounder and finisher around the basket, drawing double and sometimes triple teams that open up opportunities for his teammates to make open 3-pointers. To beat Northern Illinois, teams will have to deal with Smallwood (14.3 ppg, 10.9 rpg), but they cannot allow his teammates to piggy-back off of him to have big nights from beyond the arc.”

Huskie Posts Heating Up On Offense
58 percent ... That’s what Marcus Smallwood, James Hughes and Rome Sanders, NIU’s primary post performers, have shot from the field in the last eight games ... The leader of that group is the 6-foot-11 Hughes ... While he hasn’t missed much all season (.646), the MAC All-Freshmen candidate has hit 17-of-27 shots in the last eight games ... A 50 percent shooter on the season, Smallwood is hitting 56.0 percent of his shots (52-of-93) in his last eight games and now ranks seventh in the MAC in shooting percentage ... Also a 50 percent shooter on the season, Sanders has connected on 13-of-22 shots (.591) in his last eight games including 9-of-15 shooting (.600) in his last six.

Smallwood Named To Surf N’ Slam All-Tourney Team
After averaging 14.0 points and 10.7 rebounds, Marcus Smallwood was named to the BYU-Hawaii Surf N’ Slam All-Tournament Team in Laie, HI ... The tournament’s top rebounder, Smallwood tied the tournament record with 32 total boards, 12 of which came on the offensive end ... With the award, Smallwood becomes the first Huskie to earn a pair of regular season all-tournament team honors since Rodney Davis did it during the 1987-88 season ... Davis was named to the UTEP MetroMobile and UIC McLendon Classic All-Tourney teams.

Huskie Named Hawkeye-Gazette Challenge MVP
For the first time since the 1990 season, the Iowa Hawkeye-Gazette Challenge (Dec. 5-6) MVP didn’t hail from Iowa City ... Despite falling a game short of the tourney title, Marcus Smallwood was named MVP of the tournament after averaging 16 points and 9.5 rebounds during the two-game gathering ... The last time a non-Iowa player won MVP honors of the Hawkeye-Gazette Challenge, was in 1990, when Bob Harstad of Creighton won the award.

Huskies Hit 1,000 Wins
With its 73-63 win over Ohio on Jan. 3, the Northern Illinois men’s basketball program made history, recording its 1,000th win ... The Huskies currently have a 1,000-939 overall record ... Other milestone wins for NIU include its 500th on Feb. 29, 1964, vs. Wheaton College (83-67) and its 900th win vs. Illinois-Chicago (95-60) in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament on March 3, 1996.

Smallwood Joins NIU 1,000-Point Club
With a jumper at the 7:42 mark of the first half vs. San Jose State (Dec. 19) , Marcus Smallwood became just the 23rd player in Northern Illinois history to score 1,000 points in an NIU uniform ... Now 18th in career scoring with 1,101 points, “Smalls” is just 13 points behind George Bork (1960-63) for 17th on NIU’s career scoring list ... Smallwood became the first Huskie to top 1,000 career points since Leon Rodgers (1998-2002) did it during the 2000-01 season.

Rome Is Burning
During the month of December and now into January, it has been pick-your-poison for opponents when handling Rome Sanders ... After averaging 14.6 minutes, 2.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in November, Sanders has stepped up his game in the last six weeks to become one of the Huskies workhorses in the paint ... During the eight games in December and now into January, Sanders has averaged 6.0 points and 4.8 rebounds in 19.7 minutes of playing time ... Sanders has also shot 57.9 percent from the floor during that span ... Against Illinois-Chicago, Sanders was Mr. Efficient, scoring six points on 3-of-3 shooting while grabbing three boards ... The next night against Iowa (Dec. 6), Sanders dished out a career high five assists to go with nine rebounds, a steal and five points ... In the MAC opener at Marshall, Sanders had his best night of the season, scoring a season high 15 points while hitting 7-of-8 shots from the free throw line ... Sanders also grabbed six boards (five offensive) to go with one steal and one assist ... In his last nine games, the Curie High School product is 20-of-27 (.740) at the free throw line.

Tis’ The Season For Maestranzi
Anthony Maestranzi is averaging 4.57 assists per game this season, tops on the team and fourth in the MAC ... While the Huskies struggled to take care of the ball earlier this season, Maestranzi has done his job well, dishing out 64 dimes, compared to just 24 turnovers ... In NIU’s 14 games, Maestranzi has had one or fewer turnovers in seven of those contests and has had a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio nine times ... Maestranzi’s 64 assists this season already tops the 51 he had all of last year, when he ranked third on the team ... At his current pace of 4.57 assists per game, Maestranzi would dish out 138 helpers on the year, the second highest single-season assist total in school history ... Jay Bryant had 163 assists during the 1979-80 season ... Maestranzi would also shatter the sophomore assist record of 106 held by current assistant coach Donald Whiteside during the 1988-89 season ... Another impressive statistic for Maestranzi is his lack of turnovers ... Despite being the team’s primary ball-handler and second on the squad in minutes played (29.7 mpg.), Maestranzi is committing less than two miscues a contest, giving him a 2.7:1 assist : turnover ratio.

Hughes Playing Huge
A sweet jumper that stretches to 15 feet, the team’s most consistent free throw shooter and a devastating shot blocker ... Yes, the future is bright for freshman James Hughes ... Near perfect from the field in his last three games (7-of-11), the 6-foot-11 freshman has been smoking hot in his last six contests, hitting 75 percent of his shots (15-of-20) ... While his offensive numbers are taking off, Hughes was initially put on the floor for his defensive ability ... After sitting out the 2002-03 campaign to work on his strength, Hughes leads the Huskies and is second in the MAC in blocked shots with 28 ... Averaging 2.0 blocks per game, Hughes ranks 35th nationally and sixth nationally among freshmen ... Already with nine starts under his belt, Hughes made his collegiate debut in emphatic fashion, blocking an NIU freshman record six shots in the season-opener against Eastern Illinois ... Against Illinois State (Nov. 26), Hughes made his first career start and flourished with career highs in points (11), field goals (4), free throws made (3) and rebounds (6) ... Hughes also played a career high 22 minutes ... In a 54-53 win over rival Illinois-Chicago, Hughes was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor, scoring nine points, grabbing six boards and blocking two shots ... Also a great free throw shooter, Hughes is fourth on the team at the line at 75.0 percent (15-of-20).

Return Of The Mac
While he technically made his return on Dec. 6 against Iowa, Bryson McKenzie has slowly been working his way back into the lineup and saw a season high 10 minutes of playing time against St. Francis (Dec. 30) ... In addition to scoring two points, McKenzie grabbed a career high four rebounds vs. the Cougars ... Prior to the USF contest, McKenzie’s most extensive action came against Cornell College ... McKenzie played a then-season high eight minutes against the Rams and turned in a productive night on both ends of the floor ... The Gary, IN, native scored a career high four points on 2-of-3 shooting to go with three rebounds and a steal ... Two of McKenzie’s points came on an impressive dunk down the left baseline.

Chairman of the Boards
Is there a better 6-foot-6 rebounder in the country? ... In a word, No! ... Senior forward Marcus Smallwood has been a machine on the glass this season, averaging 10.4 rebounds a game including 17 in the season-opener vs. Eastern Illinois, 18 more at then-No. 20 Notre Dame and 14 in the MAC home-opener vs. Ohio on Jan. 3 ... In the most recent NCAA statistical rankings, Smallwood was 14th nationally in rebounding and is one of only two players, 6-foot-6 and under, to average double figures on the glass ... Against a Fighting Irish frontline that boasted heights of 6-foot-11, 6-foot-11 and 6-foot-9, Smallwood grabbed 18 rebounds including six on the offensive end of the floor ... Smallwood lost the rebounding war by one to Notre Dame’s Torin Francis, but he was the catalyst for NIU outrebounding the Irish by 10 (53-43).

MAC’s Big Poppa
Marcus “Smalls” Smallwood earned Mid-American Conference Player of the Week honors for the week of Dec. 1 after averaging 17.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks against No. 20 Notre Dame (Nov. 24) and Illinois State (Nov. 26) ... The 6-foot-6, 215 pound forward opened the week with a 21-point, 18-rebound performance at No. 20 Notre Dame in a 74-65 Fighting Irish win ... Despite facing a frontline that averaged 6-foot-10, 252 pounds, Smallwood was the one standing tall, as he registered season highs in both categories to lead the Huskies ... The senior also added two blocks and a steal against the Irish ... The preseason MAC Player of the Year returned to the court two days later (Nov. 26), to stifle Illinois State’s offensive attack, as he rejected five shots and grabbed a game high nine rebounds ... Although he did score 16 points, it was Smallwood’s effort on the defensive end that paced the Huskies to a 66-55 victory ... During a first half in which the senior got four of his five blocks, the Huskies allowed the Redbirds just 12 points on 4-of-26 shooting (.154 percent) from the floor.

Deep Depth
Head Coach Rob Judson knew one of the strengths to his 2003-04 basketball team would be its tremendous depth ... With the emergence of a strong freshman class and the return of a healthy Bryson McKenzie, the Huskies have 13 players capable of playing important minutes as the season progresses ... The 6-foot-10 center has been recovering from mid-October knee surgery and is slowly working his way back into the frontcourt rotation ... With the benefit of a 13-man roster, the Huskies have played 11 or more players in 12-of-14 contests and have played 12 players on eight occasions ... In NIU’s win over Cornell College (Dec. 15) the Huskies played the entire 13-man roster, with each player seeing at least seven minutes of duty ... Against the Rams, four players set season/career highs for minutes played including McKenzie, who played eight minutes, scored four points and grabbed three rebounds ... Against Ohio (Jan. 3) and Akron (Jan. 7), 12 players saw action with Ryan Paradise scoring a career high 11 points on 9-of-11 free throw shooting vs. the Bobcats and each player seeing at least five minutes of “PT” vs. the Zips.

The Frosh, Rookies, Newbies ....
Call them what you will, but don’t call them bashful as NIU’s quartet of freshmen have made an instant impact for the Huskies this season ... Redshirt freshman James Hughes has been the most productive of the newcomers, starting nine games, while averaging 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds ... While he leads the team in field goal percentage (.646), Hughes has been the most productive on the defensive end of the floor ... The 6-foot-11 rookie is averaging 2.0 blocks per game, second in the MAC and sixth nationally among freshmen ... Mike McKinney has been Mr. Versatility so far this season ... The high-flying shooting guard turned in back-to-back career outings, following up an eight-point performance at Marshall with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting against Cornell College (Dec. 15) ... Currently, McKinney is averaging 4.0 ppg, while his 17 offensive rebounds are fourth on the team and tops among guards ... Ryan Paradise has come on since Christmas break, averaging 19.3 minutes in his last three games ... Second on the team in free throw percentage (.783), Paradise hit 9-of-11 charity shots to score a career high 11 points in 19 minutes of playing time vs. Ohio (Jan. 3) ... Paradise played a career high 22 minutes against Bowling Green ... After being shut out in his first six games, Paige Paulsen broke into the scoring column against Baylor, scoring five points including a trey from the right wing ... Paulsen played key minutes earlier in the week against Akron and hit two first-half treys to bring NIU roaring back from a seven-point deficit.

Smallwood, Smith Garner Preseason Accolades
Prior to the start of the season, both Marcus Smallwood and P.J. Smith earned recognition as two of the top players in the Mid-American Conference ... In addition to being slated to the Preseason MAC Western Division squad, both seniors are being heralded by a number of preseason magazines ... Athlon and the Sporting News both named Marcus Smallwood as its MAC Player of the Year, while Street & Smith’s magazine named him to its All-MAC team ... P.J. Smith also received a number of preseason honors ... In addition to being a preseason All-MAC pick by Street & Smith’s and The Sporting News, Smith was named the MAC’s top NBA prospect and the player with the top instincts in the conference by Street & Smith’s ... Smallwood was also touted as the top shot blocker and the top athlete in the MAC by Street & Smith’s.

Huskies Picked To Win The MAC
On the strength of 38 first-place votes, the NIU Huskies were picked to win the MAC-Western Division over Bowling Green by the Conference Media ... The Huskies were also chosen as the favorite to win the MAC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament over Miami (Ohio).

MAC West Voting: Northern Illinois (28) 309, Bowling Green (13) 245, Western Michigan (4) 226, Ball State (1) 192, Toledo (1) 130, Central Michigan (1) 128, Eastern Michigan 114
MAC East Voting: Miami-Ohio (21) 247, Akron (17) 240, Kent State (9) 200, Marshall 125, Ohio 103, Buffalo (1) 72
MAC Tournament Voting: Northern Illinois (16), Miami-Ohio (10), Bowling Green (7), Ball State (4), Western Michigan (3), Kent State (2).

Warm Up The Bus
Go ahead and “Warm up the Bus” the Huskies don’t mind ... Under Rob Judson’s watch as the head coach, NIU has won 11-of-20 MAC road games including an impressive 7-2 record last season ... While the Huskies did drop their final two MAC road games of the season and the 2003-04 MAC season-opener at Marshall, NIU won seven straight foreign-court contests including a win at MAC Eastern Division champion Kent State (67-61) on Feb. 8.

Percentages Are With The Huskies In 2003-04
When the Huskies were chosen as the favorite to win the Mid-American Conference on Oct. 23rd in Cleveland, it was for good reason as NIU returns a good portion of its 2003 box score this season ... Of the team’s 2,158 points scored in 2002-03, 1,683 points (78 percent) return including three of the team’s top-four scorers ... Of the 1,105 rebounds a year ago, 871 rebounds (78 percent) are back including Marcus Smallwood’s 10.1 boards a game ... An amazing 194-of-195 three-pointers return headlined by P.J. Smith, Al Sewasciuk and Todd Peterson who combined for 159 of the 194 returning treys.

Bucking The Trend, Huskies Enjoy Season Of Firsts In 2002-03
The 2002-03 season was a year of firsts for the Northern Illinois basketball program under second-year head coach Rob Judson ... In addition to enjoying the most wins (17) for NIU since the 1995-96 season, the Huskies enjoyed a number of firsts on the road ... With its 72-65 win at Illinois State (Dec. 21) NIU defeated the Redbirds for the first time since Jan. 3, 1981, and for the first time on the road since Feb. 11, 1980 ... NIU’s 63-46 win at Bowling Green stopped a six-game losing skid to the Falcons dating back to Dec. 4, 1996, which was also NIU’s last win at Bowling Green ... NIU’s 72-65 win at Toledo was its first since Feb. 19, 1983 ... NIU also won its second consecutive game at Ball State with a 66-64 decision on Jan. 11 ... The last time NIU won back-to-back games at BSU (1971-72, 1972-73) Billy Harris and Jim Bradley were scoring points in bunches for the Huskies ... That 1972-73 season was also the last time NIU swept a season series from the Cardinals ... The 1982 season was the last time NIU won at Ohio, but the Huskies stopped that drought with a 68-61 win in Athens, OH, (Jan. 15) ... The Huskies made it a clean sweep over the Bobcats for the first time since 1979-80 with an 80-53 win in DeKalb on Feb. 11 ... The Huskies also had its first taste of MAC Tournament success in some time with wins over Buffalo (March 10) and Western Michigan (March 13) in the opening-two rounds ... The last time NIU won a MAC Tourney game was the 1981-82 season, which was also the last time the Huskies reached the MAC semifinals ... NIU went on to win the MAC Tourney that season and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

NIU Makes School History, Receive Votes In Preseason AP Top 25
It’s being there at the end of the season that matters the most, but the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball program made school history with the releasing of the preseason AP Top 25 poll when the Huskies received three votes to finish tied for 48th nationally ... The only Mid-American Conference school to receive votes in the preseason poll, the Huskies are tied with Georgia, Illinois-Chicago, Nevada and Wichita State ... While this is the first time the Huskies have received votes in the AP’s preseason Top 25 poll, the Huskies have gotten votes before during the regular season and in the final AP Top 25 national rankings ... The last time NIU received votes in the Associated Press poll was at the end of the 1990-91 season, when the Huskies got two votes and finished 43rd ... During the course of that season, Northern Illinois ascended as high as No. 31 in the AP poll (Feb. 25) and No. 29 in the USA Today-CNN poll on Feb. 18 ... That year the Huskies accumulated a 25-6 overall record and won the Mid-Continent Conference with a 14-2 mark ... Current head coach Rob Judson was an assistant on Jim Molinari’s staff that season ... Northern Illinois’ highest national ranking came during the 1971-72 season when NIU Hall of Famer Jim Bradley led the Huskies to No. 18 in the AP poll during the regular season. That season Northern Illinois finished 20th in the final AP poll with a 21-4 record.

Huskies Ink Chicago-Area Products To Letters Of Intent
Northern Illinois head coach Rob Judson announced the signing of three student-athletes to letters of intent as Frank Clair of Chicago Leo High School and teammates Zach Pancratz and Craig Reichel of Schaumburg High School signed with the Huskies for the 2004-05 season ... A 6-foot-6 small forward, Clair was a third team Class A all-state selection as a junior, averaging 16.2 points and 7.5 rebounds a game ... The Huskies also got a pair of signatures from Schaumburg High School teammates Zach Pancratz and Craig Reichel ... A 6-foot-4 combo guard, Pancratz led Schaumburg in scoring as a junior, averaging 16.8 points a contest while hitting more than two 3-pointers a game ... A versatile power forward, Reichel combines size with a solid perimeter game ... As a junior, the 6-foot-8 post player more than doubled his scoring output, going from 7.7 points per game as a sophomore to 15.9 points last season.

Huskies Add Cyrus Tate To 2004-05 Recruiting Class
The Huskies completed their recruiting efforts with the signing of Cyrus Tate to a National Letter of Intent on Tuesday (Dec. 9) ... A 6-foot-8, 230-pound power forward, Tate fills the Huskies’ final available scholarship opening for next season ... Last season as a member of Roy Condotti’s talented 20-8 Homewood-Flossmoor club, Tate averaged 12.5 points and 7.7 rebounds a game as a junior. A consensus Top-25 player in the state of Illinois by Chicago Hoops, Hoop Scoop and High School Elite, Tate gives the Huskies a physical low-post presence that excels on both ends of the floor. While his size and strength allow him to perform on defense, ChicagoHoops.com ranks Tate as one of the top five offensive post players in the state ... A four-year member of the varsity squad at Homewood-Flossmoor, Tate turned in a season best 25-point, 12-rebound performance against Proviso East High School last season ... Tate joins Chicago Leo High School small forward Frank Clair and Schaumburg High School teammates Zach Pancratz and Craig Reichel as members of the 2004-05 Northern Illinois men’s basketball recruiting class.