Nov. 20, 2009

Final Stats

DEKALB, Ill. - Junior center Sean Kowal recorded the third double-double of his career with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and classmate Darion "Jake" Anderson added nine points with a career-high 13 rebounds to lift the Northern Illinois men's basketball team (1-2) to its first win of the season, a 85-57 drubbing of Tennessee State (0-2) at the Convocation Center Friday night.

Freshman guard Tony Nixon, making his second-straight start in place of the injured Xavier Silas, scored a season and career-high 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting - four of those field goals came from three-point distance. Sophomore guard Mike DiNunno added 11 points, all in the first half, to break out of his early season shooting struggles. Tennessee State was led by freshman guard Jacquan Nobles, who scored 21 points on five three-pointers.

Northern Illinois shot 54.4 percent (31-57) from the field, and held the Tigers to just a 35 percent (21-60) shooting effort for the game. NIU hit 10 three-pointers as a team, and held a decisive 47-32 rebounding advantage. The Huskies committed 23 turnovers, 18 in the second half, and shot just 48.1 percent (13-27) from the free throw line. NIU rebounded from a 23.1 percent (3-13) effort from the charity stripe in the first half, to go 10-of-14 from the line in the second frame.

"I thought getting off to a quick start was huge for us," said NIU head coach Ricardo Patton. "It's difficult for teams to play from behind. That's one of the things that happened to us in our first two games. You end up fighting hard to come back, and sometimes you just don't have enough to finish it or take you over the top; and so for us to get Tennessee State on their heels and chasing us, was huge. I thought our players came out with great determination and great focus."

Both teams traded baskets in the early going, with DiNunno getting off to a quick start by scoring the first two points of the game. Tennessee State was clinging to a 5-4 lead just over two and a half minutes into the game, before NIU went on a convincing 19-0 run to claim a 25-5 advantage with 12:35 remaining. Five Huskies scored during the stretch, including two threes by DiNunno.

The Tigers trimmed the lead to 15 points (30-15) with 8:49 remaining in the first half, but NIU finished the frame on a 17-13 run, and took a 47-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. Nixon finished the half with a game-high 13 points, and DiNunno scored all 11 of his points in the opening stanza. The Tigers were held to just a 30.3 percent (10-33) first half shooting effort, and NIU's efficient offensive output included just five turnovers.

Northern Illinois extended its lead to 26 points (58-32) with 15:02 remaining after opening the second half on an 11-4 run, capped off by Nixon's fourth three-pointer. TSU then made its run, cutting the lead to just 13 points (65-52) with 8:28 remaining. NIU answered with 13 straight points to open up a 78-52 lead at the 5:53 mark - Jeremy Landers had four quick points in the spurt.

NIU ended the game on an 8-5 run, cruising to the 28-point win, the largest margin of victory in the Ricardo Patton head coaching era. NIU's 47 rebounds marked the fourth-highest single-game output in the Huskies' playing history in the Convocation Center.

"One of our game plans tonight was to start inside-out," Kowal said. "They (Tennessee State) started double-teaming, which really opened it up for the guards. They came down and hit big-time shots."

The win represented NIU's fourth-straight home win, dating back to Feb. 15, 2009, and gave the Huskies their second-consecutive win in a home opener. Notably, Bryan Hall scored eight points, just one off his career-high set Tuesday night at Illinois, and dished out five assists against just two turnovers in 17 minutes.

NIU will host its second-consecutive Ohio Valley Conference foe Sunday, in the second game of a women's-men's doubleheader at the Convocation Center, beginning at 3:30 p.m. The NIU women's squad will start the festivities with a 1 p.m. tip versus Southern Illinois.