Saturday night, NIU men’s basketball coach Ricardo Patton finally got the good rebounding effort from his team he was looking for.

Unfortunately for Patton, NIU found other ways to fall behind on the road against Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Plagued by turnovers and fouls, the Huskies fell behind early and were unable to make a comeback as they lost 77-63 to the Chippewas.

CMU (7-9 overall, 2-2 MAC) scored 22 points off turnovers and went 32-41 from the foul line to combine for 54 points – almost as much as NIU (4-12, 1-3) scored in the entire game.

“We’re our own worst enemy,” Patton said. “It’s like the saying goes, ‘I have identified the enemy, and the enemy is us.’”

Despite out-rebounding CMU 38–29 – including 15-7 on the offensive boards – NIU was unable to take advantage. Both teams scored seven second–chance points.

It was a collective effort on the glass for the Huskies as Sean Smith, Egan Grafel, Shaun Logan and Michael Hart all had five rebounds to lead the team.

“We dominated the boards and that’s one of the areas we talked about,” Patton said. “We had to be more consistent, so I think that was a positive for us.”

Scoring–wise, NIU freshman Jake Anderson had one of his best games of the season.

The guard from Chicago scored a team–high 22 points on 7–for–12 shooting. Anderson, however, committed nine of NIU’s 23 turnovers.

“Part of all the freshmen’s struggle is that they are freshmen,” Patton said. “They’re going to make some mistakes. If we had sophomores who we thought would play better, they would be in there.”

On the other end of the court, CMU’s Giordan Watson was his usual self. The senior guard scored a season–high 29 points, besting his season average by more than 10 points. His play against the Huskies helped him earn MAC Player of the Week honors.

Watson’s 8–for–10 shooting from the foul line helped keep NIU from getting back into the game in the second half.

“When the other team shoots over 20 more free throws than you, it’s going to prevent you from going on runs,” Patton said.

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