The Bowling Green Falcons (14-10, 5-6) continue their road trip as they travel to DeKalb, Illinois, to face the Northern Illinois Huskies (8-14, 3-7) to return to Mid-American Conference (MAC) basketball.
Matchup History
The Falcons hold a 43-31 all-time series lead over the Huskies, and over the last 10 games, BGSU has gone 9-1. The Orange and Brown also enter on a three-game winning streak against NIU.
Scouting Northern Illinois
The Huskies enter this game off a one-point 75-74 win over the Georgia State Panthers in the second half of the MAC-Sun Belt challenge.
The Huskies’ offense is driven by guard Makhai Valentine, who leads the team with 14.7 points per game. A solid three-point shooter, Valentine is shooting 35.5% on 6.9 attempts per game. Dylan Ducommun is close behind with 12.7 points per game on 37.2% from the field.
Both Valentine and Ducommun rank in the top 25 of MAC scores: Valentine at 17 and Ducommun at 25.
Gianni Cobb leads the Huskies’ perimeter defense with 41 steals in the season, third in the MAC. With 3.9 assists a game, Cobb also leads the team in assists per game.
Northern Illinois Huskies have the leading defense in the MAC in opponents’ 3-point percentage, holding opponents to an average of 31.5% from three. Forcing opponents into facing freshman big man Gustav Winther.
NIU is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the MAC, as their 13 a game places them squarely in second place.
Scouting Bowling Green
BGSU comes into the game off a 91-54 loss to Arkansas State in their second game of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.
Javontae Campbell leads the BGSU offense with 18.7 points per game. There are three other Falcons who score in double figures, Sam Towns with 12, Josiah Shackelford with 11.9 and Mayar Wol with 11.6
The Orange and Brown do most of their work inside the arc, shooting 48.3% from the field, ranking fourth in the MAC.
Defensively, Campbell leads the Falcons in steals with 79 on the season, leading not only the MAC but all the NCAA in steals. The guard helps to turn the Falcons’ defense into offense as they are always looking for opportunities to get out and run.
The Falcons lead the MAC with 16.1 turnovers forced per game, ranking sixth in the NCAA.
Falcon Four to Watch
Taj Walters (Northern Illinois No. 6)
The leading rebounder for the Huskies, the guard, will look to attack the board to get NIU second-chance opportunities.
Daemar Kelly (Northern Illinois No. 3)
One of the first players off the bench for NIU, Kelly brings plenty of energy off the bench by doing a little of everything on the court.
Troy Glover II (Bowling Green No. 16)
Glover has been recently coming off the bench for the Falcons, but his defensive prowess is still there, averaging 1.2 blocks per game and 1 steal per game.
Justin Thomas (Bowling Green No. 25)
Starting the last two games for BGSU, the do-it-all guard looks to set up his teammates before looking for his own shots.
