The Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team will travel to Buffalo to face the Bulls in the season finale on Friday, March 8. Game time in Buffalo is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN+, 94-9 WDKB in DeKalb, the NIU Huskies app and the Varsity Network app.
Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Fraschels, Switzerland/Ursping) scored a career-high 27 points last time out against Central Michigan. Konan Niederhauser added eight rebounds and three blocks against the Chippewas.
Konan Niederhauser has 54 blocks this season, the third-most in a single-season in NIU history, and is ranked 27th in the country averaging 2.08 blocks per game.
David Coit (Columbus, N.J./Atlantic Cape CC) set a new NIU single season record with 88 triples against CMU, surpassing the previous record of 87 set by Eugene German during the 2018-19 season. Coit also moved up two places to 31st on NIU’s career scoring list as he has 1,014 points in just two seasons as a Huskie.
Coit is currently ranked 16th nationally in threes per game (3.14), 28th in scoring (20.2 ppg) and 30th in free throw percentage (88.4 percent). Coit also leads the MAC in scoring in conference play at 21.9 points per game.
Will Lovings-Watts has continued his strong close to the season with 11 points against Central Michigan. Lovings-Watts is averaging 11.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game over the last five games and has scored in double figures in each of the last four.
The Bulls bring a 4-26 record into Friday’s season finale, including a 2-15 mark in conference play. Last time out, Buffalo fell to Ohio, 78-66. Two players score in double figures for Buffalo, led by Sy Chatman’s 18.6 points per game. Isaiah Adams adds 13.0 points per contest.
Buffalo is 45th in the country, second in the MAC, in blocks, averaging 4.6 per contest. Chatman leads the Bulls individually, averaging 1.57 blocks per game.
NIU won the first game of the season series, 72-68, in DeKalb (Feb. 13). Xavier Amos (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) led NIU with 25 points while Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J./Clarendon College) had 17 points and 12 rebounds, helping NIU snap a five-game losing streak to Buffalo. The Bulls were led by 18 points from Chatman.