More of the same came the Huskies’ way on Saturday as the men’s basketball team dropped another conference match-up, this time at the hand of Buffalo.

For the fifth time this season, the Huskies failed to reach 60 points against a MAC opponent and fell 68-46 to the Bulls. NIU (6-15 overall, 2-7 MAC) is 0-5 in the conference when not reaching at least 60 points and 0-6 on the season. With the loss, the Huskies’ losing streak was extended to five, and the team dropped to 1-8 on the road.

“We played extremely hard today,” said NIU head coach Ricardo Patton. “We certainly had our chances, but we committed too many turnovers and allowed them too many second-chance opportunities with their offensive rebounds. We lost to a very good team, but I’m very excited about the future of our team.”

Sophomore Darion ‘Jake’ Anderson paced the Huskies, scoring a game-high 16 points. Anderson has led NIU in scoring 13 times this season. The only other Huskie to score in double-digit figures was freshman Mike DiNunno who added 10 points on a 4-10 shooting effort.

“Jake really carried us in the first half, and, at halftime, we talked about needing someone else to step up,” Patton said. “We wanted to play inside out and tried to get the ball inside to (Sean)
Kowal and (Michael) Fakuade. We didn’t finish like we would have liked in the post, but if those guys continue to get the ball close to the basket, they’ll figure out ways to score.”

NIU ended the game going 18-48 from the field and 4-15 from behind the arc.

Rebound leader Fakuade made his first career start on Saturday, replacing team captain Kowal in the lineup. Fakuade tallied career highs in rebounds (8) and points (9). The freshman center went 5-6 at the free-throw line and ultimately fouled out of the game.

“I thought Fakuade did a nice job for us in his first start,” Patton said. “It is about production for our post players, and he has been our most productive guy in the paint as of late. He was given an opportunity and has done a nice job over the last few games and in practice.”

Despite Fakuade’s rebounding efforts, the Huskies found themselves at a 44-28 rebound disadvantage. NIU gave the Bulls 20 offensive rebounds which led to 20 second chance points.

The Huskies are 0-11 this year when losing the battle on the boards.

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