2017–18 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies, led by seventh-year head coach Mark Montgomery,^[1] played their home games at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 13–19, 6–12 in MAC play to finish in last place in the West Division. They lost in the first round of the MAC tournament to Kent State.

2017–18 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Record	13–19 (6–12 MAC)
Head coach	Mark Montgomery (7th season)
Associate head coach	Jon Borovich
Assistant coaches	Lamar Chapman Brandon Watkins
Home arena	Convocation Center
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Buffalo †	15	–	3		.833			27	–	9		.750
Kent State	9	–	9		.500			17	–	17		.500
Miami (OH)	8	–	10		.444			16	–	18		.471
Bowling Green	7	–	11		.389			16	–	16		.500
Ohio	7	–	11		.389			14	–	17		.452
Akron	6	–	12		.333			14	–	18		.438
West
Toledo	13	–	5		.722			23	–	11		.676
Eastern Michigan	11	–	7		.611			22	–	13		.629
Ball State	10	–	8		.556			19	–	13		.594
Western Michigan	9	–	9		.500			17	–	15		.531
Central Michigan	7	–	11		.389			21	–	15		.583
Northern Illinois	6	–	12		.333			13	–	19		.406
† 2018 MAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2016–17 season 15–17, 7–11 in MAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the West Division. As the No. 9 seed in the MAC tournament, they lost in the first round to Eastern Michigan.^[2]

Offseason

Coaching changes

Following the season, assistant coach Lou Dawkins left the school to take an assistant coach position at Cleveland State.^[3][4] Assistant coach Jason Larson was not retained by the school following the season.^[3]

On April 28, 2017, the school hired Lamar Chapman as an assistant coach.^[5] On October 12, Brandon Watkins was hired as an assistant to round out the coaching staff.^[6]

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Dontel Highsmith	34	G	6'2"	200	Senior	Dowagiac, MI	Graduated and transferred to Cleveland State
Marin Maric	34	C	6'11"	250	Senior	Split, Croatia	Graduated and transferred to DePaul
Laytwan Porter	14	G	6'2"	165	Sophomore	Rockford, IL	Transferred
Nick Wagner	14	G	6'3"	190	Freshman	Galesville, WI	Transferred
Marshawn Wilson	14	G	6'3"	205	Sophomore	Oakdale, MN	Left school during season^[7]

2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Safir 'Gairges' Daow SG	Australia	Victory Rock Prep School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	N/A
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Eugene 'Marlo' Brown SF	Detroit, MI	DME Academy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Owen Hamilton #37 C	Prescott, WI	Prescott High School	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Sep 18, 2016
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Rod Henry-Hayes SG	Zion, IL	Zion-Benton Township High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 5, 2016.

Source^[8]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm		St. Francis (IL) Postponed (Unsafe court conditions), Make-up Nov 16^[9]			Convocation Center  DeKalb, IL
Nov 14, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Green Bay	W 85–65	1–0	Convocation Center (858) DeKalb, IL
Nov 16, 2017* 7:00 pm		St. Francis (IL)	W 70–60	2–0	Convocation Center (514) DeKalb, IL
Nov 20, 2017* 4:00 pm, Flohoops.com		vs. Penn Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals	L 80–93	2–1	Germain Arena (823) Estero, FL
Nov 21, 2017* 12:30 pm, Flohoops.com		vs. Florida Atlantic Gulf Coast Showcase consolation round	L 67–77	2–2	Germain Arena (841) Estero, FL
Nov 22, 2017* 10:00 am, Flohoops.com		vs. Manhattan Gulf Coast Showcase 7th place game	W 70–68	3–2	Germain Arena (868) Estero, FL
Nov 26, 2017* 3:30 pm		Rockford	W 105–53	4–2	Convocation Center (649) DeKalb, IL
Nov 29, 2017* 8:30 pm, ESPN3		Milwaukee	L 62–75	4–3	Convocation Center (1,216) DeKalb, IL
Dec 2, 2017* 2:05 PM, WAC Digital Network		at Chicago State	W 95–77	5–3	Jones Convocation Center (463) Chicago, IL
Dec 4, 2017* 8:00 PM, ESPNU		at Iowa State	L 80–94	5–4	Hilton Coliseum (13,894) Ames, IA
Dec 9, 2017* 12:00 pm, ESPN3		Central Connecticut	W 61–55	6–4	Convocation Center (641) DeKalb, IL
Dec 18, 2017* 6:00 pm, FS1		at Marquette	L 70–79	6–5	BMO Harris Bradley Center (12,532) Milwaukee, WI
Dec 21, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		UIC	W 69–63	7–5	Convocation Center (889) Dekalb, IL
Dec 29, 2017* 7:00 PM, BTN Plus		at Iowa	L 75–98	7–6	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,665) Iowa City, IA
MAC regular season
Jan 2, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Kent State	W 75–61	8–6 (1–0)	Convocation Center (918) DeKalb, IL
Jan 6, 2018 2:30 pm, ESPN3		at Ohio	L 68–78	8–7 (1–1)	Convocation Center (7,066) Athens, OH
Jan 9, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Bowling Green	L 57–66	8–8 (1–2)	Stroh Center (2,013) Bowling Green, OH
Jan 13, 2018 3:30 pm, ESPN3		Eastern Michigan	W 72–66	9–8 (2–2)	Convocation Center (1,144) DeKalb, IL
Jan 16, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Buffalo	L 67–95	9–9 (2–3)	Alumni Arena (2,098) Amherst, NY
Jan 20, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Akron	L 67–82	9–10 (2–4)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,378) Akron, OH
Jan 23, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Bowling Green	W 93–62	10–10 (3–4)	Convocation Center (883) DeKalb, IL
Jan 27, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Western Michigan	L 72–79	10–11 (3–5)	University Arena (3,116) Kalamazoo, MI
Jan 30, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Central Michigan	L 67–81	10–12 (3–6)	McGuirk Arena (1,820) Mount Pleasant, MI
Feb 3, 2018 3:30 pm, ESPN3		Miami (OH)	L 65–81	10–13 (3–7)	Convocation Center (1,280) DeKalb, IL
Feb 6, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Toledo	L 77–82	10–14 (3–8)	Savage Arena (3,861) Toledo, OH
Feb 10, 2018 3:30 pm, ESPN3		Buffalo	W 90–88 ^OT	11–14 (4–8)	Convocation Center (1,565) DeKalb, IL
Feb 13, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Central Michigan	L 72–80	11–15 (4–9)	Convocation Center (799) DeKalb, IL
Feb 17, 2018 3:30 pm, ESPN3		Western Michigan	W 75–67	12–15 (5–9)	Convocation Center (1,743) DeKalb, IL
Feb 20, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Ball State	L 68–77	12–16 (5–10)	Worthen Arena (3,745) Muncie, IN
Feb 24, 2018 11:00 am, ESPN3		at Eastern Michigan	L 53–82	12–17 (5–11)	Convocation Center (1,821) Ypsilanti, MI
Feb 27, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Toledo	L 67–97	12–18 (5–12)	Convocation Center (869) DeKalb, IL
Mar 2, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Ball State	W 66–65	13–18 (6–12)	Convocation Center (1,007) DeKalb, IL
MAC tournament
Mar 5, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3	(12)	at (5) Kent State First round	L 59–61	13–19	MAC Center (2,024) Kent, OH
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[10]

References

1. Burton, Tom. "Coach's seat gets warmer". Northern Star Online. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
2. "Northern Illinois vs. Eastern Michigan – Game Recap – March 6, 2017 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
3. Nicol, Scott A. "Men's basketball staff sees shake up". Northern Star Online. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
4. . Cleveland State University. Archived from the original on 2017-08-17. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
5. "Lamar Chapman Joins NIU Men's Basketball Staff – Northern Illinois University". NIU Athletics. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
6. Garcia, Eddie. "Alumnus becomes assistant men's basketball coach". Northern Star Online. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
7. "Men's basketball: Wilson, NIU part ways". Retrieved 2017-08-16.
8. "Verbal Commits". www.verbalcommits.com. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
9. Men's Basketball Season Opener Postponed
10. "Men's Basketball vs Marquette on 12/18/2017 - Box Score".