DeKALB – After beating Toledo on a last-second tip-in on Thursday, the Northern Illinois men's basketball team immediately turned its attention to the Mid-American Conference tournament.
The 11th-seeded Huskies (10-19, 6-10 MAC) play at the No. 6 seed, Eastern Michigan (16-14, 8-8) at 1 p.m. Sunday. The two teams split the season series, with the home team winning each game, but NIU especially was upset after losing 66-60 at Eastern Michigan on Feb. 27.
That was a game NIU went 9 of 25 from the free-throw line and committed a season-high 35 fouls.
"We owe Eastern Michigan," NIU guard Xavier Silas said. "They got us last time and we want to go there and prove something. It's going to be a good game."
NIU coach Ricardo Patton said he wants his team to have the mental mindset that it is out to prove that it is better than its record.
"I would like to believe that's the feeling, that's the sense of our players," he said. "I would like to hope that they know in their heart of hearts that we can do better. We'll just have to see what happens on Sunday."
The Huskies haven't won a game in the MAC tournament since 2003, when the fourth-seeded Huskies beat No. 13 seed Buffalo, 81-64.
Should the Huskies win Sunday, they will get the No. 3 seed in the tournament, Akron. The Huskies lost to the Zips in the regular season.
"I think there are still some teams that are favored and should be favored to win it," Patton said. "But, as I've told the team, we can beat anybody in our league. But, anybody can beat us, too. That's what we have to continue to keep in mind."
And it's NIU's last chance to turn around a season that once showed promise.
"We want to win this first round," Silas said. "We want to win the second round. We want to win all the rounds. That's our goal. That's been our goal."
The NIU women (10-18, 4-12 MAC) also open up the MAC tournament at noon today at Miami (Ohio) (8-21, 6-10 MAC). The Huskies are the No. 9 seed and the RedHawks the No. 8, but Miami scored a blowout victory over the Huskies in their one meeting this season, defeating NIU, 96-51. The RedHawks shot 63.5 percent from the field in that game and NIU was without center Ebony Ellis, who will play today.
