A break from conference play resulted in a victory for the NIU men’s basketball team Saturday.

The Huskies (8-17) notched a 97-73 win over the Ohio Valley Conference’s Southeast Missouri State (3-25) in their first ever victory in ESPN’s BracketBuster series. NIU totaled a number of season-highs in Saturday’s victory including: point total (97), 3-point field goals (13), rebounds (49), steals (15) and field goal attempts (77).

Four Huskies scored in double figures with sophomore Sean Kowal leading the way. The center recorded his second double-double of the season, pouring in 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Sophomore Darion ‘Jake’ Anderson finished the night with 18 points on 6-17 shooting. The guard sank five 3-pointers in the contest.

“We just came in as a team, and we decided we weren’t going to come back to DeKalb without a ‘W,’” Kowal said. “Our offensive game plan was to play inside-out. I got a couple of early baskets and that freed up the shooters. They knocked down a lot of open shots.”

The entire team made a complete effort as the bench contributed 30 points. Senior Sean Smith scored 11 points and pulled down four rebounds in 21 minutes off the pine.

“It was certainly a good statistical night for us. But I can tell you that I wasn’t comfortable with any lead we had,” said NIU head coach Ricardo Patton. “I thought our bench players really did a nice job for us, and we didn’t suffer a drop-off when we went to our different bench combinations.”

The Huskies look to ride the momentum from this victory back to conference play. NIU squares off with Western Michigan on Wednesday.

“When we have all cylinders firing, we have a pretty tough team,” Kowal said. “We’re going to take this win and enjoy it. We have a lot more momentum, and we’re excited to play Western Michigan again.”

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