The Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team takes its three-game conference win streak on the road on Saturday, Feb. 17, as the Huskies visit Kent State. Tipoff against the Golden Flashes is slated for 1 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN+ as well as via radio on 94-9 WDKB in DeKalb, the NIU Huskies app and the Varsity Network app.

The Huskies head to Ohio on the heels of a 72-68 win over Buffalo on Tuesday night (Feb. 13). Xavier Amos (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) scored a game-high 25 points against the Bulls while Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J./Clarendon College) posted his second consecutive double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Nutter is averaging 18.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game over the last six contests.

Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Fraschels, Switzerland/Ursping) tallied four blocks against Buffalo. Konan Niederhauser is currently ranked 15th in the country with 2.3 blocks per game while NIU is 16th as a team, averaging 5.2 blocks per contest.

Over the last four games, NIU has outrebounded its opponents by an average of eight rebounds per contest. Will Lovings-Watts (Jeffersonville, Ind./Putnam Science) has averaged 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game during that same four-game stretch.

The Golden Flashes come into Saturday’s contest with a 12-12 overall record, including a 5-6 mark in MAC play. Kent State fell at Troy, 78-68, last time out (Feb. 10) in the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge. Three players are scoring in double figures for Kent State, led by 14.5 points per game from Jalen Sullinger. Chris Payton Jr. adds 13.0 points, and a team-high 7.4 rebounds, per contest while VonCameron Davis is scoring 12.7 points per game.

Kent State is shooting 76.3 percent from the free-throw line as a team, tops in the MAC and 27th in the country. The Golden Flashes are also forcing 14.1 turnovers per game, best in the MAC and 54th nationally.

The Golden Flashes won the first meeting of the season, 83-76, in DeKalb. (Jan. 16). Davis and Reggie Bass each scored 23 points for Kent State, Amos led the Huskies with 20 points.

NIU will return home for a pair of games next week as the Huskies host Ball State on Tuesday, Feb. 20, and Ohio on Saturday, Feb. 24, for the Cram the Convo doubleheader. Tickets for both games are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.