 DEKALB, ILL. – Xavier Silas connected on a career-high six three pointers while scoring 24 points Saturday as Northern Illinois (3-8) cruised to a 66-45 win over North Dakota (2-13) at the Convocation Center.
The Huskies, who have won two of their last three games, had only one player in double figures and shot 43.1 percent from the field. A strong defensive effort, however, contributed to a frigid offensive performance by the Fighting Sioux. North Dakota hit 12-of-40 (30 percent) from the floor. It was the lowest field goal percentage allowed in the 83 games played at the Convocation Center.
The Huskies forced 17 turnover and sophomore forward Michael Fakuade registered a career-high four blocks.
Like the Huskies, UND had one player in double figures. Chris Clausen came off the bench to score 16 points while hitting 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Five Fighting Sioux starters combined for 19 points.
"We've played well enough to win a lot of games on the defensive end all year long, but I've felt for the past couple of weeks that we need to become more of an unselfish team on the offensive end. I thought we made some progress in that area here tonight,” said NIU head coach Ricardo Patton.
"I thought we did a nice job on the offensive end, with guys sharing the basketball and turning down tougher shots to look for their teammates," he continued. "Anytime you have 18 assists on 22 field goals, it shows you are effectively sharing the basketball. “
NIU jumped out to the early 9-2 lead, led by Silas two threes in the opening 2:03. North Dakota was forced into its first timeout at the 13:34 mark, after the Huskies' lead was extended to a dozen, 14-2. NIU hit four-of its first six shots, with five different players scratching the scoring column in the stretch.
The Huskies' lead reached 22-4 with 10:46 remaining, after a quick 8-0 run that saw Nixon hit three-straight shots, including two threes. North Dakota was forced into its second timeout as a result. Tyler Storm hit a three-pointer of his own with 9:20 remaining, his first since the Illinois game on Nov. 20. The Huskies' lead was pushed to 28-7 at the under-eight media timeout.
The Huskies finished the half on a 6-4 run to take a 34-11 lead into the locker room at halftime. Kowal and Nixon each scored a game-high eight points, while Silas chipped in six and Mike DiNunno had five.
The Fighting Sioux, who shot just 15 percent (3-20) from the field before intermission, were led by leading scorer Travis Bledsoe's three points. The 11 points was the fewest points an opponent has scored in one half versus NIU since Western Michigan scored just 15 points in the opening frame on Feb. 25, 2009.
UND opened the second half on a 10-2 run and pulled within 15 points (36-21) at the first media timeout of the second half (15:35). The Sioux's Chris Clausen hit back-to-back threes to cap off the spurt.
NIU's lead was trimmed to just nine points twice in the ensuing two and a half minutes, as North Dakota's three-point barrage continued. Five of UND's first seven field goals of the frame came via the three-point shot. But in both cases, Silas converted a field goal to push NIU's advantage back to double digits.
After going on a 10-2 run, Northern Illinois pushed its lead back to 17 points (49-32) with 7:51 remaining. Jeremy Landers came off the bench to provide three field goals in the stretch, including a steal and coast-to-coast layup that set up a conventional three-point play situation.
The lead grew to 22 points (56-34) with 6:31 remaining after back-to-back treys by Silas.
Northern Illinois will travel to the Windy City for the third time this season, facing host Chicago State at the Jones Convocation Center Wednesday (Jan. 6) at 7 p.m.
The Cougars are 5-8 on the season, and have won two-of their last three overall. CSU is 3-2 at home. NIU posted a 93-81 win over the Cougars last season (12/6/08) in DeKalb, and is 21-0 all-time versus Chicago State.
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