NIU up next for Chippewas

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Playing the Mid-American Conference’s worst defensive team might help the men’s basketball team forget about Tuesday’s loss to Toledo.

Central looks to rebound from a poor shooting performance when it plays Northern Illinois at 6 p.m. EST Saturday in DeKalb, Ill.

The Huskies (4-10, 1-1 MAC) give up the most points of any team in the MAC, allowing opponents to score 73.3 points per game. NIU was the MAC West Division Champions last season.

CMU shot 38.2 percent from the floor in the 65-60 loss against Toledo. CMU averages 43.5 percent shooting for the season.

“We just have to do a better job of scoring than we did against Toledo,” said sophomore forward Chris Kellermann. “We have a better chance to beat them than we did last year.”

They also have the worst turnover margin at -4.79, averaging 18 turnovers per game.

However, that doesn’t mean Central (6-8, 1-1 MAC) will earn an easy win.

Northern Illinois features two prolific scorers in seniors James Hughes and Mike McKinney. McKinney averages 13.2 points a game, while Hughes averages 12.8 points per game.

Hughes is a 6-foot-11 center that will challenge junior center Justin Blevins in the post.

“For me it’s a matter of size and getting inside for position,” Blevins said. “We’ll just have to use our quickness and our strength. We have to come out with great defense and attack the offensive glass because they are a pretty good rebounding team.”

The Huskies rank second in the conference in defensive rebounds with 23 per game.

Junior point guard Giordan Watson has statistically developed into a leader for the Chippewas this season.

The guard ranks second in the league in three categories, including scoring with 18.3 points per game. He also ranks fourth in steals with 1.79 per game.

“We’re not going to out talent any teams,” said coach Ernie Zeigler. “So we’ll just have to out tough them. The key for us is to hold NIU under 40 percent shooting. They have very good shooters and are good at spreading the floor. If we hold them under 40 percent, then we’ll have a good opportunity to win our third consecutive road win.”

NIU recently lost to Eastern Michigan 63-62, a team that CMU beat in the MAC opener on Saturday.

jbarczy@cm-life.com