Northern Iowa at Northern Illinois

Northern Illinois had one of its best seasons in years as it finished 17-17 and made it to the MAC Tournament semifinals. The Huskies return guard Eugene German, who scored 20.4 points per game and hit on 87 3-pointers.  Forward Lacey James (8.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg) returns along with guard Rod Henry-Hayes. The Huskies won four of their last five games last season and coach Mark Montgomery has the program headed in the right direction. Northern Iowa is picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers come off a 16-18 season and return four starters and they hope to get off to a better start than last year when they lost five of their first eight games. They did beat Old Dominion on 58-53 on Tuesday while shooting only 34.5 percent while making just 6 of 31 from three-point range. That kind of offense won't get it done today. Play Northern Illinois.