DeKalb, Ill. - The Northern Illinois men's basketball team continues its trek through the Mid-American Conference East division, as the Huskies travel to Oxford, Ohio to square off with Miami (OH) for a 6:30 p.m. (CST) tip-off at Millett Hall on Tuesday evening.

The Huskies (4-15, 1-6 MAC) are coming off of a 68-49 defeat at the hands of Kent State at the NIU Convocation Center last Saturday (Jan. 27) afternoon. Senior guard Mike McKinney topped NIU with a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds.

The RedHawks (8-11, 4-3 MAC) were the latest victims for Toledo, as the host Rockets remained undefeated in MAC play with the 61-56 victory over Miami. Miami junior forward Tim Pollitz posted a game-high 25 points, along with nine rebounds, while teammate Nathan Peavy chipped in a double-double of 13 points and 12 boards.

THE COACHES - Rob Judson is in his sixth season at the helm of the NIU men's basketball team and has a career-record of 71-93 including last season's Mid-American Conference West Division championship. Judson is 2-3 in five appearances against Miami. Miami head coach Charlie Coles is in his 11th year as the RedHawks' skipper and has led MY to a mark of 183-137 during his tenure and has a career-record of 275-221 in 17 seasons as a head coach. Coles is 6-5 all-time against the Huskies in 11 appearances.

THE SERIES -- Miami holds a 20-12 advantage over the Huskies in their all-time series.

THE LAST TIME -- Miami senior guard William Hatcher converted a teardrop jumper with 4.6 seconds remaining as the visiting RedHawks earned the 58-56 come-from-behind victory over Northern Illinois on January 3, 2006. Northern Illinois senior forward Todd Peterson topped the Huskies with 12 points.

CRASHING THE BOARDS -- NIU junior college transfer Shaun Logan, who currently leads the Huskies in rebounding (5.9 rpg.), is on pace to be the first Huskie to lead the team in rebounding in his first season since T.J. Lux (1995-2000) grabbed 8.7 boards-per-game as a frosh in 1995-96.

CRASHING THE BOARDS (PART DEUX) -- Junior guard / forward Zach Pancratz tied a career-best and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds against Akron on Jan. 24. With that outing Pancratz becomes the eighth Huskie this season to lead NIU in caroms, joining Egan Grafel, James Hughes, Bristan Kelley, Shaun Logan, Mike McKinney, Ryan Paradise and Ben Rand.

INJURY UPDATE -- Junior wing Ben Rand underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to remove scar tissue from his right knee on Thursday, January 4. This is the same knee that Rand had ACL reconstruction surgery on March 31, 2006. Freshman point guard Cody Yelder underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Dec. 28 to correct damaged meniscal cartilage that presented itself during the Lamar contest on Dec. 20. Huskie redshirt junior Jarvis Nichols joined Rand and Yelder on the injured list as he suffered a broken left foot in practice on Jan. 4.

DOUBLE DUTY -- Northern Illinois has totaled four double-doubles this season including:
James Hughes (20 points, 12 rebounds) at Eastern Michigan on Jan. 9;
Mike McKinney (19 points, 13 rebounds) at Marist on Dec. 29;
Shaun Logan (15 points, 11 rebounds) at Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 22;
James Hughes (22 points, 10 rebounds) against Duquesne on Nov. 25.

CRUNCH TIME-- Junior point guard Ryan Paradise is a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line with less than two minutes remaining in a contest. He is also averaging a team-best 1.3 points in the final two minutes of a game. As a team, NIU is shooting 58.0% (40-for-69) from the field in the final two minutes of a contest.

BLOCK PARTY -- Senior center James Hughes currently sits in second place in Huskie history with 185 career blocks. The reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Year needs 15 more swats for the school-record of 200, currently held by Allen Rayhorn (1978-82). Hughes has 39 blocks on the season, good for second most in school-history by a senior. The Silvis, Ill., native needs 25 more swats to tie the current single-season, senior-record of 64, set by Hubert Register during the 1994-95 campaign.

20/20 VISION -- A NIU player has tallied 20+ points in a half two times this season, as senior center James Hughes scored 24 of his career and game-high 27 points in the Huskies 72-70 loss against Georgia Southern on December 8th. Junior guard / forward Zach Pancratz accomplished that feat on December 2 nd as he scored a career-high 22 points, including six treys, in the second half of NIU's 72-62 loss against Winthrop.

SEEKING 1,000 -- Senior guard Mike McKinney enters today's contest with 965 points. McKinney, who is currently averaging 13.3 points-per-game, is on pace to reach the 1,000-point plateau against Bowling Green on February 7.

TREY BIEN -- NIU junior point guard Ryan Paradise has knocked down at least one three-pointer in the Huskies' last four contests.

MAC TELECONFERENCE -- The MAC will hold a weekly teleconference for men's basketball coaches on Monday's during the basketball season. Each coach will be available for approximately seven minutes. The media session for NIU head coach Rob Judson begins at 9:16 a.m. (CST) every Monday. For information on how to join in on the teleconference, please contact NIU Assistant Media Relations Director Matt Brendich.

DISHING DIMES -- NIU senior guard Mike McKinney needs two more assists to reach 200 helpers for his career.

SHOOTING STROKE -- Senior center James Hughes is currently the school-record holder for career field-goal percentage, as the Silvis, Ill., native has converted 57.7% (360-for-624) of his career field-goal attempts.

SEEING RED(HAWKS) -- NIU senior guard Mike McKinney is averaging 10.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in three career contests against Miami (OH).

CONTROLLING THEIR BENCH -- In six MAC games this season, the opponent's bench is outscoring the Huskie reserves, 26.6 points-per-game to 10.6 for NIU.

ROUGH CROWD -- Northern Illinois has had some tough times at Millett Hall, as the Huskies have won just one time in 17 appearances, with the lone victory coming on February 21, 1981, as NIU picked up the 75-63 win over the then Redskins.

HEATED AFFAIRS -- The last five games between NIU and Miami have been closely fought, as the Huskies' are averaging 63.2 points to the RedHawks' 62.

UP NEXT -- The Huskies travel to New York to square off with Buffalo for a 1 p.m. (CST) tip-off on Saturday, February 3.