2023-11-14 04:28:06
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NIU vs. Illinois Tech Final Box Score
Next Game:
at Georgia State
11/17/2023 | 1 p.m.
ESPN+
Nov. 17 (Fri) / 1 p.m
at Georgia State
History
DEKALB, Ill. – Will Lovings-Watts (Jeffersonville, Ind./Putnam Science) scored a game-high 19 points as the Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team defeated Illinois Tech, 107-55, on Monday night (Nov. 13) at the NIU Convocation Center. Xavier Amos (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) added 14 points, Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Fraschels, Switzerland/Ursping) and Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J./Clarendon each scored 13 and David Coit (Columbus, N.J./Atlantic Cape CC) chipped in 10 in the victory.
NIU’s 107 points marked the first time the Huskies have hit the century mark since Dec. 22, 2018, in a 100-59 victory over Chicago State and are the most points by the Huskies since a 111-61 victory over St. Joseph’s (Ind.) on Nov. 23, 2013.
The 19 points from Lovings-Watts is the most points scored by a Huskie freshman since Feb. 25, 2017, when Eugene German netted 23 once morest Eastern Michigan.
“Our guys played hard,” said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. “We didn’t really get into the playbook, we played so much in transition, but I was happy for our guys. Coming off of App State, a competitive game, I was a little concerned regarding the mindset going into this game. I thought we might be a little lethargic and unfocused, and it looked that way for the first two or three minutes, but then we settled in.”
The contest was even at 12 before an 8-0 burst gave the Huskies a 20-12 lead with just under 14 minutes to play in the opening half. Coit knocked in a pair of triples, sandwiched around a bucket from Lovings-Watts to give NIU a cushion.
Illinois Tech trimmed the NIU lead to four, 22-18, before 11-straight by the Huskies gave NIU a 33-18 advantage with 6:55 to play before the intermission. Amos had the final seven of the run which put the Huskies in front by 15.
Following a bucket by the Scarlet Hawks, NIU scored the next 16 as the Huskies led, 49-19, with three minutes left in the opening half. Amos ignited the run with a triple and Lovings-Watts added five points during the spurt.
NIU pushed its lead to 54-21 at the intermission as the Huskies shot 60.5 percent (23-of-38) from the field in the first half, including 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from three. Lovings-Watts had 13 points in the opening 20 minutes while Amos added a dozen.
In the second half, 15 different players saw time for NIU, with only one player seeing more than 10 minutes of action following the break.
NIU finished the contest with a 70-6 advantage in points in the paint, along with a 17-3 edge in second chance points and a 35-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Huskies recorded 18 assists in the contest, led by five from Coit and four from Nutter. Konan Niederhauser and Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia/Seward County CC) each had seven rebounds to tie for the game lead.
DeAndrew Vortes scored nine points to pace Illinois Tech.
The Huskies will head on the road this weekend as they travel to Atlanta, Ga., to compete in the Capitol Challenge. NIU will face Georgia State on Friday, Nov. 17, and Little Rock on Saturday, Nov. 18, both games are scheduled to tipoff at 1 p.m. CT.
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