2018–19 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies were led by eighth-year head coach Mark Montgomery, and 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 17–17 overall, 8–10 in MAC play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. As the No. 7 seed in the MAC tournament, they advanced to the semifinals, where they lost to Bowling Green.

2018–19 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball
Oakland Hoops Challenge Champions
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Record	17–17 (8–10 MAC)
Head coach	Mark Montgomery (8th season)
Associate head coach	Jon Borovich
Assistant coaches	Lamar Chapman Brandon Watkins
Home arena	Convocation Center
Seasons ← 2017–18 2019–20 →

2018–19 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 15 Buffalo †	16	–	2		.889			32	–	4		.889
Bowling Green	12	–	6		.667			22	–	12		.647
Kent State	11	–	7		.611			22	–	11		.667
Akron	8	–	10		.444			17	–	16		.515
Miami (OH)	7	–	11		.389			15	–	17		.469
Ohio	6	–	12		.333			14	–	17		.452
West
Toledo	13	–	5		.722			25	–	8		.758
Central Michigan	10	–	8		.556			23	–	12		.657
Eastern Michigan	9	–	9		.500			15	–	17		.469
Northern Illinois	8	–	10		.444			17	–	17		.500
Ball State	6	–	12		.333			16	–	17		.485
Western Michigan	2	–	16		.111			8	–	24		.250
† 2019 MAC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2017–18 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.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Marlo Brown	3	G	6'5"	200	Freshman	Southfield, MI	Transferred to Tyler JC
Andrew Zelis	32	C	7'0"	255	RS Senior	Wheaton, IL	Graduated
Owen Hamilton	33	C	7'0"	2255	Freshman	Prescott, WI	Transferred to Wisconsin

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Zaire Mateen	5	G	6'0"	165	Sophomore	Queens, NY	Junior college transferred from Laramie County CC
Alize Travis	21	G	6'1"	175	Junior	Victorville, CA	Junior college transferred Pima CC

2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Austin Richie SF	Chicago Heights, IL	Bosco Institute	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Aug 3, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Justin Lee SF	Lawrenceville, GA	Collins Hill High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Oct 11, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:     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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 30, 2018.

2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Tyler Cochran PG	Bolingbrook, IL	Bolingbrook High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sep 14, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Keenon Cole PF	Streamwood, IL	Streamwood High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	N/A	Jun 29, 2018
	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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 30, 2018.

Roster

2018–19 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Dante Thorpe 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Friendship Collegiate Academy Triton College Washington, D.C. G 1 Trendon Hankerson (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Novi Novi, MI G 2 Gairges Daow 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Victory Rock Academy Melbourne, Australia G/F 3 Justin Lee 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Collins Hill Lawrenceville, GA F 4 Lacey James 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Jr Wayland Union Rider Grand Rapids, MI G 5 Zaire Mateen 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So South Shore Laramie County CC Queens, NY G 10 Eugene German 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr 21st Century Charter Gary, IN F 11 Noah McCarty 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Sterling Newman Rock Falls, IL G/F 12 Anastasios Demogerontas 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Carl Sandburg Moraine Valley CC Orland Park, IL F 15 Jaylen Key 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Homestead Milwaukee, WI G 20 Caleb Oehlberg (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr DeKalb DeKalb, IL G 21 Alize Travis 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Eleanor Roosevelt Pima CC Victorville, CA G 22 Rod Henry-Hayes 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Zion-Benton Township Zion, IL G/F 32 Austin Richie 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Don Bosco Prep Glenwood, IL G/F 42 Levi Bradley 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Pius XI Milwaukee, WI G 55 Brandon Danowski (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Loyola Academy Wilmette, IL	Head coach Mark Montgomery (Michigan State) Assistant coach(es) Jon Borovich (Central Michigan) Lamar Chapman (Lane College) Brandon Watkins (Penn State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm		Rockford Battle for the 16th District p	W 93–54	1–0	Convocation Center (843) DeKalb, IL
Nov 9, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Northern Kentucky	L 85–88 ^2OT	1–1	Convocation Center (895) DeKalb, IL
Nov 17, 2018* 2:00 pm		Illinois Tech Men Against Breast Cancer Hoop Showcase	W 73–66	2–1	Convocation Center (673) DeKalb, IL
Nov 23, 2018* 11:00 am		vs. Oral Roberts Men Against Breast Cancer Hoop Showcase	W 87–66	3–1	Athletics Center O'rena  Rochester, MI
Nov 24, 2018* 11:00 am		vs. James Madison Men Against Breast Cancer Hoop Showcase	L 74–78	3–2	Athletics Center O'rena  Rochester, MI
Nov 25, 2018* 1:30 pm, ESPN+		at Oakland Men Against Breast Cancer Hoop Showcase	W 92–72	4–2	Athletics Center O'rena (2.093) Rochester, MI
Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Green Bay	L 83–85	4–3	Resch Center (1,669) Green Bay, WI
Dec 5, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		UC Davis	W 71–62	5–3	Convocation Center (910) DeKalb, IL
Dec 8, 2018* 3:30 pm, FS1		at Butler	L 68–95	5–4	Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,247) Indianapolis, IN
Dec 17, 2018* 8:00 pm, ESPN+		Western Illinois	W 91–76	6–4	Convocation Center (1,012) DeKalb, IL
Dec 20, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Northern Kentucky	L 62–65	6–5	BB&T Arena (2,757) Highland Heights, KY
Dec 22, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Chicago State	W 100–59	7–5	Convocation Center (765) DeKalb, IL
Dec 29, 2018* 1:00 pm, BTN		at No. 8 Michigan State	L 60–88	7–6	Breslin Center (14,796) East Lansing, MI
MAC regular season
Jan 5, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Ohio	W 72–66 ^OT	8–6 (1–0)	Convocation Center (5,121) Athens, OH
Jan 8, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Miami (OH)	W 83–70	9–6 (2–0)	Millett Hall (1,611) Oxford, OH
Jan 12, 2019 3:30 pm, ESPN+		Akron	W 73–56	10–6 (3–0)	Convocation Center (906) DeKalb, IL
Jan 15, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Central Michigan	L 69–78	10–7 (3–1)	Convocation Center (1,001) DeKalb, IL
Jan 19, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Kent State	L 68–78	10–8 (3–2)	MAC Center (2,291) Kent, OH
Jan 22, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		No. 14 Buffalo	W 77–75	11–8 (4–2)	Convocation Center (1,284) DeKalb, IL
Jan 26, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Akron	L 65–67	11–9 (4–3)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,996) Akron, OH
Jan 29, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Ohio	W 71–60	12–9 (5–3)	Convocation Center (737) DeKalb, IL
Feb 2, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Toledo	L 55–69	12–10 (5–4)	Convocation Center (1,348) DeKalb, IL
Feb 5, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Ball State	L 71–72	12–11 (5–5)	Convocation Center (462) DeKalb, IL
Feb 9, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Eastern Michigan	L 49–57	12–12 (5–6)	Convocation Center (1,634) Ypsilanti, MI
Feb 12, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Western Michigan	L 74–76	12–13 (5–7)	University Arena (1,760) Kalamazoo, MI
Feb 16, 2019 3:30 pm, ESPN3		Bowling Green	L 67–87	12–14 (5–8)	Convocation Center (2,869) DeKalb, IL
Feb 23, 2019 6:00 pm, CBSSN		at Toledo	L 54–57	12–15 (5–9)	Savage Arena (5,534) Toledo, OH
Feb 26, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Western Michigan	W 70–65	13–15 (6–9)	Convocation Center (1,115) DeKalb, IL
Mar 2, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Eastern Michigan	L 69–75	13–16 (6–10)	Convocation Center (1,439) DeKalb, IL
Mar 5, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Central Michigan	W 89–86	14–16 (7–10)	McGuirk Arena (1,709) Mount Pleasant, MI
Mar 8, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Ball State	W 64–57	15–16 (8–10)	Worthen Arena  Muncie, IN
MAC tournament
Mar 11, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN+	(7)	(10) Ohio First round	W 80–61	16–16	Convocation Center (1,070) DeKalb, IL
Mar 14, 2019 5:30 pm, ESPN+	(7)	vs. (2) Toledo Quarterfinals	W 80–76	17–16	Quicken Loans Arena  Cleveland, OH
Mar 15, 2019 8:00 pm, FCS	(7)	vs. (3) Bowling Green Semifinals	L 67–71	17–17	Quicken Loans Arena  Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[1]

References

1. "2021-22 Men's Basketball Schedule".