2013–14 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The 2012–13 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies, led by third year head coach Mark Montgomery, played their home games at the Convocation Center as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 8–10 in MAC play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. They advanced to the second round of the MAC tournament where they lost to Eastern Michigan.

2013–14 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Record	15–17 (8–10 MAC)
Head coach	Mark Montgomery (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Jon Borovich Lou Dawkins Jason Larson
Home arena	Convocation Center

2013–14 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Buffalo	13	–	5		.722			19	–	10		.655
Akron	12	–	6		.667			21	–	13		.618
Ohio	11	–	7		.611			25	–	12		.676
Miami	8	–	10		.444			13	–	18		.419
Kent State	7	–	11		.389			16	–	16		.500
Bowling Green	6	–	12		.333			12	–	20		.375
West
Toledo	14	–	4		.778			27	–	7		.794
Western Michigan †	14	–	4		.778			23	–	10		.697
Eastern Michigan	10	–	8		.556			22	–	15		.595
Northern Illinois	8	–	10		.444			15	–	17		.469
Central Michigan	3	–	15		.167			10	–	21		.323
Ball State	2	–	16		.111			5	–	25		.167
† 2014 MAC tournament winner

Season

Preseason

The Huskies announced their complete season schedule on September 3, 2013. Highlighted by an early November tournament at home featuring San Jose State, James Madison, and Milwaukee, the Huskies schedule included 16 home games. The Huskies also scheduled to make trips to Nebraska, UMass, and Iowa State. For the conference schedule, the Huskies schedule home-and-home series with Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Western Michigan, Buffalo, and Kent State, while hosting Ohio and Miami and visiting Akron and Bowling Green.

Roster

2013–14 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown C 0 Pete Rakocevic 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) RS Jr Wilbraham & Monson Academy Sacramento State Chicago, IL G 2 Aaron Armstead 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Hales Franciscan HS San Jose City College Chicago, IL G 3 Antone Christian 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Martin Luther King HS Nashville, TN G 4 Dontel Highsmith 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Dowagiac HS Dowagiac, MI G 5 Travon Baker 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Detroit Consortium Detroit, MI F 10 Darrell Bowie 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So La Jolla Prep Milwaukee, WI G 11 Daveon Balls 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Lawrence North HS Indianapolis, IN F 13 Kevin Gray 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Brooks Academy Chicago, IL G 15 J. J. Cravatta 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Streator Township HS Streator, IL F 21 Keith Gray 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Brooks Academy Chicago, IL G 23 Aaric Armstead 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr La Jolla Prep Chicago, IL G/F 32 Aksel Bolin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Asker HS Asker, Norway G 33 Anthony Johnson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Whitney Young HS Purdue Chicago, IL C 34 Marin Maric 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr La Lumiere School Split, Croatia C 42 Jordan Threloff 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 255 lb (116 kg) RS Jr DeKalb HS Illinois State DeKalb, IL G 55 Michael Orris 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Crete-Monee HS Kansas State Crete, IL	Head coach Mark Montgomery (Michigan State) Assistant coach(es) Jon Borovich (Central Michigan) Lou Dawkins (Tulsa) Jason Larson (Grand Valley State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Abdel Nader	23	F	6'7"	225	Junior	Skokie, IL	Transferred
Akeem Springs	2	G	6'3"	208	Sophomore	Waukegan, IL	Transferred
Brandon Hayes	4	F	6'4"	200	Graduate	Homewood, IL	Graduated
Mike Davis	24	G	6'2"	200	Sophomore	Cleveland, OH	Transferred
Tony Nixon	25	G	6'4"	207	Graduate	Chicago, IL	Graduated
Sam Mader	2	G	6'9"	220	Sophomore	Appelton, WI	Transferred

Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Dontel Highsmith PG	Dowagiac, MI	Dowagiac Union High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 68
Aaric Armstead SF	Chicago, IL	La Jolla Prep	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 65
Marin Maric C	Split, CR	La Lumiere School (Ind.)	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	240 lb (110 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: Not Ranked   Rivals: Not Ranked  ESPN: Not Ranked
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2013 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

NIU also got Aaron Armstead, transfer from San Jose City College. Redshirted last year, Pete Rakocevic is also eligible this year.

Schedule and results

Source: [1]

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/2/2013* 5:00 pm	Rockford	W 90–57		Convocation Center (701) DeKalb, IL
Non-conference games
11/8/2013* 7:00 pm	Nebraska–Omaha	L 66–68	0–1	Convocation Center (1,060) DeKalb, IL
11/15/2013* 8:00 pm	James Madison NIU Invitational	L 55–60	0–2	Convocation Center (1,113) DeKalb, IL
11/16/2013* 8:00 pm	San Jose State NIU Invitational	W 60–59	1–2	Convocation Center (753) DeKalb, IL
11/17/2013* 3:30 pm	Milwaukee NIU Invitational	L 69–82	1–3	Convocation Center (474) DeKalb, IL
11/24/2013* 3:00 pm	Saint Joseph's (IN)	W 111–61	2–3	Convocation Center (663) DeKalb, IL
11/30/2013* 12:00 pm	at Nebraska	L 58–63	2–4	Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,332) Lincoln, NE
12/5/2013* 7:00 pm	Dartmouth	W 64–57	3–4	Convocation Center (625) DeKalb, IL
12/14/2013* 2:00 pm, NBCSN	at No. 21 Massachusetts	L 54–80	3–5	William D. Mullins Memorial Center (4694) Amherst, MA
12/18/2013* 7:00 pm	at Loyola (IL)	W 55–49	4–5	Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1517) Chicago, IL
12/22/2013* 4:00 pm	at UC Riverside	W 71–64	5–5	UC Riverside Student Recreation Center (236) Riverside, CA
12/31/2013* 6:00 pm	at No. 14 Iowa State	L 63–99	5–6	Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, IA
1/3/2014* 7:00 pm	Bethune-Cookman	W 65–51	6–6	Convocation Center (657) DeKalb, IL
Conference games
1/8/2014 6:00 pm	at Buffalo	L 46–67	6–7 (0–1)	Alumni Arena (1,520) Amherst, NY
1/12/2014 3:30 pm	at Bowling Green	W 45–36	7–7 (1–1)	Stroh Center (1,982) Bowling Green, OH
1/15/2014 7:00 pm	Kent State	L 64–73	7–8 (1–2)	Convocation Center (651) DeKalb, IL
1/18/2014 7:00 pm	Ohio	L 46–65	7–9 (1–3)	Convocation Center (1,667) DeKalb, IL
1/22/2014 6:00 pm	at Toledo	L 68–77	7–10 (1–4)	Savage Arena (4,335) Toledo, OH
1/25/2014 1:00 pm	Buffalo	L 67–75	7–11 (1–5)	Convocation Center (901) DeKalb, IL
1/29/2014 6:00 pm, ESPN 3	at Kent State	W 50–49	8–11 (2–5)	MAC Center (2,234) Kent, OH
2/1/2014 1:00 pm	at Ball State	W 67–65 OT	9–11 (3–5)	John E. Worthen Arena (2,786) Muncie, IN
2/4/2014 7:00 pm, ESPN 3	Miami (OH)	W 53–41	10–11 (4–5)	Convocation Center (644) DeKalb, IL
2/9/2014 3:30 pm	Western Michigan	L 71–74	10–12 (4–6)	Convocation Center (2,005) DeKalb, IL
2/12/2014 7:00 pm	Central Michigan	W 88–63	11–12 (5–6)	Convocation Center (773) DeKalb, IL
2/15/2014 6:00 pm	at Akron	L 54–62	11–13 (5–7)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,642) Akron, OH
2/20/2014 7:00 pm, ESPN 3	Eastern Michigan	W 61–59	12–13 (6–7)	Convocation Center (877) DeKalb, IL
2/23/2014 1:00 pm	at Central Michigan	L 67–70	12–14 (6–8)	McGuirk Arena (1,797) Mount Pleasant, MI
2/26/2014 7:00 pm	Toledo	W 74–66	13–14 (7–8)	Convocation Center (1,254) DeKalb, IL
3/1/2014 1:00 pm	at Eastern Michigan	W 56–52	13–15 (7–9)	Convocation Center (815) Ypsilanti, MI
3/4/2014 6:00 pm	at Western Michigan	L 56–61	13–16 (7–10)	University Arena (3,176) Kalamazoo, MI
3/8/2014 3:30 pm	Ball State	W 70–56	14–16 (8–10)	Convocation Center (2,144) DeKalb, IL
MAC tournament
03/10/2014 7:00 pm	vs. Bowling Green First round	W 54–51	15–16	Convocation Center (941) DeKalb, IL
03/12/2014 9:00 pm	vs. Eastern Michigan Second round	L 48–53	15–17	Quicken Loans Arena (1,513) Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.