2013–14 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

2013–14 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball
ConferenceMid-American Conference
DivisionWest Division
Record15–17 (8–10 MAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Jon Borovich
  • Lou Dawkins
  • Jason Larson
Home arenaConvocation Center
Seasons
2013–14 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
Buffalo 13 – 5   .722 19 – 10   .655
Akron 12 – 6   .667 21 – 13   .618
Ohio 11 – 7   .611 25 – 12   .676
Miami 8 – 10   .444 13 – 18   .419
Kent State 7 – 11   .389 16 – 16   .500
Bowling Green 6 – 12   .333 12 – 20   .375
West
Toledo 14 – 4   .778 27 – 7   .794
Western Michigan † 14 – 4   .778 23 – 10   .697
Eastern Michigan 10 – 8   .556 22 – 15   .595
Northern Illinois 8 – 10   .444 15 – 17   .469
Central Michigan 3 – 15   .167 10 – 21   .323
Ball State 2 – 16   .111 5 – 25   .167
† 2014 MAC tournament winner

The 2012–13 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies, led by third year head coach Mark Montgomery, played their home games at the Convocation Center as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 8–10 in MAC play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. They advanced to the second round of the MAC tournament where they lost to Eastern Michigan.

Season

Preseason

The Huskies announced their complete season schedule on September 3, 2013.[1] Highlighted by an early November tournament at home featuring San Jose State, James Madison, and Milwaukee, the Huskies schedule included 16 home games. The Huskies also scheduled to make trips to Nebraska, UMass, and Iowa State. For the conference schedule, the Huskies schedule home-and-home series with Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Western Michigan, Buffalo, and Kent State, while hosting Ohio and Miami and visiting Akron and Bowling Green.

Roster

2013–14 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
C 0 Pete Rakocevic 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) RS Jr Wilbraham & Monson Academy
Sacramento State 		Chicago, IL
G 2 Aaron Armstead 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Hales Franciscan HS
San Jose City College 		Chicago, IL
G 3 Antone Christian 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Martin Luther King HS Nashville, TN
G 4 Dontel Highsmith 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Dowagiac HS Dowagiac, MI
G 5 Travon Baker 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Detroit Consortium Detroit, MI
F 10 Darrell Bowie 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So La Jolla Prep Milwaukee, WI
G 11 Daveon Balls 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Lawrence North HS Indianapolis, IN
F 13 Kevin Gray 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Brooks Academy Chicago, IL
G 15 J. J. Cravatta 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Streator Township HS Streator, IL
F 21 Keith Gray 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Brooks Academy Chicago, IL
G 23 Aaric Armstead 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr La Jolla Prep Chicago, IL
G/F 32 Aksel Bolin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Asker HS Asker, Norway
G 33 Anthony Johnson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Whitney Young HS
Purdue 		Chicago, IL
C 34 Marin Maric 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr La Lumiere School Split, Croatia
C 42 Jordan Threloff 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 255 lb (116 kg) RS Jr DeKalb HS
Illinois State 		DeKalb, IL
G 55 Michael Orris 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Crete-Monee HS
Kansas State 		Crete, IL
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Abdel Nader 23 F 6'7" 225 Junior Skokie, IL Transferred
Akeem Springs 2 G 6'3" 208 Sophomore Waukegan, IL Transferred
Brandon Hayes 4 F 6'4" 200 Graduate Homewood, IL Graduated
Mike Davis 24 G 6'2" 200 Sophomore Cleveland, OH Transferred
Tony Nixon 25 G 6'4" 207 Graduate Chicago, IL Graduated
Sam Mader 2 G 6'9" 220 Sophomore Appelton, WI Transferred

Recruits

College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Dontel Highsmith
PG 		Dowagiac, MI Dowagiac Union High School 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg)  
Star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 68
Aaric Armstead
SF 		Chicago, IL La Jolla Prep 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg)  
Star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 65
Marin Maric
C 		Split, CR La Lumiere School (Ind.) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (110 kg)  
Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: Not Ranked   Rivals: Not Ranked  ESPN: Not Ranked
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2013 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

NIU also got Aaron Armstead, transfer from San Jose City College. Redshirted last year, Pete Rakocevic is also eligible this year.

Schedule and results

Source: [1]

Date
time, TV 		Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
11/2/2013*
5:00 pm 		Rockford W 90–57 
Convocation Center (701)
DeKalb, IL
Non-conference games
11/8/2013*
7:00 pm 		Nebraska–Omaha L 66–68  0–1
 Convocation Center (1,060)
DeKalb, IL
11/15/2013*
8:00 pm 		James Madison
NIU Invitational 		L 55–60  0–2
 Convocation Center (1,113)
DeKalb, IL
11/16/2013*
8:00 pm 		San Jose State
NIU Invitational 		W 60–59  1–2
 Convocation Center (753)
DeKalb, IL
11/17/2013*
3:30 pm 		Milwaukee
NIU Invitational 		L 69–82  1–3
 Convocation Center (474)
DeKalb, IL
11/24/2013*
3:00 pm 		Saint Joseph's (IN) W 111–61  2–3
 Convocation Center (663)
DeKalb, IL
11/30/2013*
12:00 pm 		at Nebraska L 58–63  2–4
 Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,332)
Lincoln, NE
12/5/2013*
7:00 pm 		Dartmouth W 64–57  3–4
 Convocation Center (625)
DeKalb, IL
12/14/2013*
2:00 pm, NBCSN 		at No. 21 Massachusetts L 54–80  3–5
 William D. Mullins Memorial Center (4694)
Amherst, MA
12/18/2013*
7:00 pm 		at Loyola (IL) W 55–49  4–5
 Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1517)
Chicago, IL
12/22/2013*
4:00 pm 		at UC Riverside W 71–64  5–5
 UC Riverside Student Recreation Center (236)
Riverside, CA
12/31/2013*
6:00 pm 		at No. 14 Iowa State L 63–99  5–6
 Hilton Coliseum (14,384)
Ames, IA
1/3/2014*
7:00 pm 		Bethune-Cookman W 65–51  6–6
 Convocation Center (657)
DeKalb, IL
Conference games
1/8/2014
6:00 pm 		at Buffalo L 46–67  6–7 (0–1)
 Alumni Arena (1,520)
Amherst, NY
1/12/2014
3:30 pm 		at Bowling Green W 45–36  7–7 (1–1)
 Stroh Center (1,982)
Bowling Green, OH
1/15/2014
7:00 pm 		Kent State L 64–73  7–8 (1–2)
 Convocation Center (651)
DeKalb, IL
1/18/2014
7:00 pm 		Ohio L 46–65  7–9 (1–3)
 Convocation Center (1,667)
DeKalb, IL
1/22/2014
6:00 pm 		at Toledo L 68–77  7–10 (1–4)
 Savage Arena (4,335)
Toledo, OH
1/25/2014
1:00 pm 		Buffalo L 67–75  7–11 (1–5)
 Convocation Center (901)
DeKalb, IL
1/29/2014
6:00 pm, ESPN 3 		at Kent State W 50–49  8–11 (2–5)
 MAC Center (2,234)
Kent, OH
2/1/2014
1:00 pm 		at Ball State W 67–65 OT 9–11 (3–5)
 John E. Worthen Arena (2,786)
Muncie, IN
2/4/2014
7:00 pm, ESPN 3 		Miami (OH) W 53–41  10–11 (4–5)
 Convocation Center (644)
DeKalb, IL
2/9/2014
3:30 pm 		Western Michigan L 71–74  10–12 (4–6)
 Convocation Center (2,005)
DeKalb, IL
2/12/2014
7:00 pm 		Central Michigan W 88–63  11–12 (5–6)
 Convocation Center (773)
DeKalb, IL
2/15/2014
6:00 pm 		at Akron L 54–62  11–13 (5–7)
 James A. Rhodes Arena (3,642)
Akron, OH
2/20/2014
7:00 pm, ESPN 3 		Eastern Michigan W 61–59  12–13 (6–7)
 Convocation Center (877)
DeKalb, IL
2/23/2014
1:00 pm 		at Central Michigan L 67–70  12–14 (6–8)
 McGuirk Arena (1,797)
Mount Pleasant, MI
2/26/2014
7:00 pm 		Toledo W 74–66  13–14 (7–8)
 Convocation Center (1,254)
DeKalb, IL
3/1/2014
1:00 pm 		at Eastern Michigan W 56–52  13–15 (7–9)
 Convocation Center (815)
Ypsilanti, MI
3/4/2014
6:00 pm 		at Western Michigan L 56–61  13–16 (7–10)
 University Arena (3,176)
Kalamazoo, MI
3/8/2014
3:30 pm 		Ball State W 70–56  14–16 (8–10)
 Convocation Center (2,144)
DeKalb, IL
MAC tournament
03/10/2014
7:00 pm 		vs. Bowling Green
First round 		W 54–51  15–16
 Convocation Center (941)
DeKalb, IL
03/12/2014
9:00 pm 		vs. Eastern Michigan
Second round 		L 48–53  15–17
 Quicken Loans Arena (1,513)
Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

References

  1. ^ "Northern Illinois Announces 2013-14 Schedule". NIUHuskies.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013.