DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois Huskies held Bowling Green to just 32.7 percent (18-of-55) shooting, including just 26.9 percent (7-of-26) in the second half, as the Huskies led wire-to-wire in a 71-60 victory over the Falcons on Tuesday night at the NIU Convocation Center.
Junior Aaric Armstead scored a team-high 14 points and sophomore Marin Maric recorded his fifth consecutive double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Huskies improved to 18-8 overall, 7-6 in Mid-American Conference play. NIU’s 18 victories marks the most for the program since winning 20 during the 1995-96 season.
Senior Travon Baker . . .
Junior Aaric Armstead scored a team-high 14 points and sophomore Marin Maric recorded his fifth consecutive double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Huskies improved to 18-8 overall, 7-6 in Mid-American Conference play. NIU’s 18 victories marks the most for the program since winning 20 during the 1995-96 season.
Senior Travon Baker . . .
Marin Maric notched his fifth consecutive double-double. . . . scored six points and added five assists to move into third-place on NIU’s career assist list with 333; Baker also became NIU’s all-time leader in games played as he made his 118th consecutive appearance in a Huskie uniform.
“When we had patience and we shared the ball, we were very effective,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “I thought we got sloppy at times but, all-in-all, a lot of guys contributed and we got a lot of good basketball out of a number of players.
“It was good to see Marin Maric get another double-double, Aaric Armstead continues to play well and Marshawn Wilson gave us a big boost in the first half.”
Spencer Parker and Wes Alcegaire each scored 14 points to lead Bowling Green; Antwon Lillard added 13 points for the Falcons.
Tied at five, freshman Marshawn Wilson and Armstead knocked down back-to-back triples to push the Huskie advantage to a half-dozen before sophomore Andrew Zelis added a short jumper to give the Huskies a 13-5 lead with 15:11 to play in the first half.
Wilson finished with 12 points and also collected a trio of assists and a trio of steals.
Bowling Green (13-13, 4-9 MAC) trimmed the NIU lead to four, 17-13, until a triple from Baker and back-to-back layups from freshman Jaylen Key pushed the Huskie advantage to 24-13 with 8:39 left before the half.
A 7-2 burst by the Falcons cut the Huskie lead to just three, 28-25, with 2:47 left until the intermission, but NIU scored seven of the next nine, including six from Wilson, as the Huskie lead grew to eight, 35-27, with 1:36 to play.
The teams traded triples and Bowling Green scored the final basket of the half to make it 38-32 at the half. Wilson led all scorers with 12 points in the opening 20 minutes as the Huskies shot 46.4 percent (13-of-28), including 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from three.
The Huskies scored the first six out of the locker room to push the lead to a dozen, 44-32. NIU held Bowling Green without a field goal for over eight minutes to start the second half as the Huskies built a 51-34 lead.
Bowling Green trimmed the deficit to a dozen just past the midway point of the second half, but Armstead responded with a triple and freshman Laytwan Porter added a layup off a feed from Baker as the Huskies pushed the lead to 17 and never looked back.
Porter finished with seven points and three assists off the bench; freshman Levi Bradley added eight points in a reserve role.
NEXT:
Northern Illinois at Ball State (Friday, 6:30 ET)
Bowling Green at Buffalo (Saturday, Noon ET)
(Courtesy of NIU Athletics)
“When we had patience and we shared the ball, we were very effective,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “I thought we got sloppy at times but, all-in-all, a lot of guys contributed and we got a lot of good basketball out of a number of players.
“It was good to see Marin Maric get another double-double, Aaric Armstead continues to play well and Marshawn Wilson gave us a big boost in the first half.”
Spencer Parker and Wes Alcegaire each scored 14 points to lead Bowling Green; Antwon Lillard added 13 points for the Falcons.
Tied at five, freshman Marshawn Wilson and Armstead knocked down back-to-back triples to push the Huskie advantage to a half-dozen before sophomore Andrew Zelis added a short jumper to give the Huskies a 13-5 lead with 15:11 to play in the first half.
Wilson finished with 12 points and also collected a trio of assists and a trio of steals.
Bowling Green (13-13, 4-9 MAC) trimmed the NIU lead to four, 17-13, until a triple from Baker and back-to-back layups from freshman Jaylen Key pushed the Huskie advantage to 24-13 with 8:39 left before the half.
A 7-2 burst by the Falcons cut the Huskie lead to just three, 28-25, with 2:47 left until the intermission, but NIU scored seven of the next nine, including six from Wilson, as the Huskie lead grew to eight, 35-27, with 1:36 to play.
The teams traded triples and Bowling Green scored the final basket of the half to make it 38-32 at the half. Wilson led all scorers with 12 points in the opening 20 minutes as the Huskies shot 46.4 percent (13-of-28), including 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from three.
The Huskies scored the first six out of the locker room to push the lead to a dozen, 44-32. NIU held Bowling Green without a field goal for over eight minutes to start the second half as the Huskies built a 51-34 lead.
Bowling Green trimmed the deficit to a dozen just past the midway point of the second half, but Armstead responded with a triple and freshman Laytwan Porter added a layup off a feed from Baker as the Huskies pushed the lead to 17 and never looked back.
Porter finished with seven points and three assists off the bench; freshman Levi Bradley added eight points in a reserve role.
NEXT:
Northern Illinois at Ball State (Friday, 6:30 ET)
Bowling Green at Buffalo (Saturday, Noon ET)
(Courtesy of NIU Athletics)
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