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 (MAC). 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

2018–19 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

	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

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	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
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Justin Lee SF	Lawrenceville, GA	Collins Hill High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Oct 11, 2017
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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. Retrieved October 30, 2018.

2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2019)
Name	Hometown	School	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
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Keenon Cole PF	Streamwood, IL	Streamwood High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	N/A	Jun 29, 2018
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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. 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 Last update: August 28, 2024

Schedule and results

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

Source: