Losing streaks are never easy to break, especially when you can’t even catch a break on your home court.

The NIU men’s basketball team (5-17 overall, 2-8 MAC) has dropped three straight home games, sandwiched between road losses.

The Huskies will be battling in Ohio again tonight as they take on the Akron Zips (17-6, 7-3) and attempt to snap their five–game losing streak.

“We can’t dwell on the fact that we have lost five games in a row,” said NIU head coach Ricardo Patton. “We are just trying to get better at the things that we do.”

Compared to NIU, Akron looks to have an advantage on the court. In the MAC, the Huskies are rated last place in defending shots from behind the arc. On the other hand, the Zips lead the MAC in 3-point shooting percentage, draining .394 percent of their shots from downtown.

In its last contest, NIU had trouble with Kent State’s shooting and allowed the Golden Flashes to go 15–24 from beyond the 3–point line.

“We have to do a better job defensively,” Patton said. “We can’t allow guys to get open, uncontested looks.”

The coach said his team dug themselves too deep with a halftime deficit of 25 points. However, the Huskies came back strong and out scored KSU by eight points in the second half.

“We have to learn to put halves together,” Patton said.

Coming into tonight’s game, the Zips are also ranked first in the MAC in scoring percentage, averaging 72.9 points per game. This statistic has helped them garner the top ranking in scoring margin, beating their opponents by an average of 9.3 points.

The Huskies are averaging a scoring margin of –10.5 points per game, leaving them at the bottom of the MAC standings.

“We’ve shot the ball poorly in the last few games,” Patton said. “No matter how hard you play on the defensive end, at some point you have to put the ball in the basket.”

Patton noted that the Huskies are getting just as many, if not more, attempts at the net than most of their MAC opponents. Since the team is getting similar looks at the basket, the game turns into a contest of shooting percentage.

“So much of [shooting] comes from player confidence,” Patton said. “Certainly the guys have shown the ability to shoot the ball better than what we have shot in the last few games. We just have to get back to playing the way the guys have the ability to play.”

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