2009–10 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

2009–10 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball
ConferenceMid-American Conference
DivisionWest Division
Record10–20 (6–10 MAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Sundance Wicks
  • Will Smith
  • Todd Townsend
Home arenaConvocation Center
Seasons
2009–10 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
Kent State 13 – 3   .813 24 – 10   .706
Akron 12 – 4   .750 24 – 11   .686
Miami 9 – 7   .563 14 – 18   .438
Buffalo 9 – 7   .563 18 – 12   .600
Ohio† 7 – 9   .438 22 – 15   .595
Bowling Green 6 – 10   .375 14 – 16   .467
West
Central Michigan 9 – 7   .563 15 – 15   .500
Eastern Michigan 8 – 8   .500 17 – 15   .531
Western Michigan 8 – 8   .500 18 – 15   .545
Ball State 8 – 8   .500 15 – 15   .500
Northern Illinois 6 – 10   .375 10 – 20   .333
Toledo 1 – 15   .063 4 – 28   .125
† Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2009–10 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University in the college basketball season of 2009–10. The team, led by head coached by Ricardo Patton, are members of the Mid-American Conference and played their homes game at the Convocation Center. They finished the season 10–20, 6–10 in MAC play and lost in the first round of the 2010 MAC men's basketball tournament.

Before the season

Roster changes

The Huskies only lost one senior from last year's team. That player, Sean Smith, started in 29 of Northern Illinois' 30 games for that season (only one player had started all 30). He contributed an average 8.4 points per game. However, Northern Illinois has recruited two newcomers for their team. Xavier Silas, a transfer from Colorado, who made his Northern Illinois day-view after sitting out one year because of NCAA transfer rules. Another newcomer will be Keith Smith, who redshirted his first season.

The Huskies were predicted to finish 2nd in the MAC West.

During the season

Northern Illinois had a rough start to its 2009-10 campaign. In the opening loss to Northwestern, Xavier Silas went down with a fracture on his shooting hand, an injury that would sideline him for one month. The loss was a tough blow for NIU, because Silas was expected to be a key contributor to the team after averaging double figures in scoring during his two years at Colorado.

Without Silas, the Huskies struggled through the non-conference schedule. They were 1-5 when Silas made his come back against Minnesota. In his first two games back, Silas shot the ball poorly, showing clear signs of being rusty after sitting out for a whole month. The Huskies lost both games and dropped to 1-7.

Tough loss to #18 Temple

With Silas back in form after his injury, Northern beat Maryland Eastern Shore behind his 19 points. After winning only their second game of the season, NIU prepared to face their first ranked opponent at home in a long time. The game was expected to be a blowout, but the Huskies hung tough for most of the game, but in the end Temple was just too much, winning 70-60.

6-game winning streak

After losing to ranked Temple, Northern would go on to win their next 6 games, including their first 4 conference games. The 4-0 start in conference play marked the best start in school history.

During the 6-game winning streak, Silas averaged 22 points per contest.

6-game losing streak

Northern Illinois traveled to Central Michigan to play a veteran Chippewa squad. After battling for most of the game, the Huskies fell short, losing 81-75 and snapping their winning streak.

Crossover play began against the East Division, widely considered the best of the MAC divisions. The Huskies struggled mightily against the East, losing their next 5 games, giving up 90 points or more in three of those games.

Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Antone Christian
Nashville, TN Martin Luther King HS 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 189 lb (86 kg)  
Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Tony Nixon
SG 		South Holland, IL Seton Academy 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 198 lb (90 kg) Sep 22, 2008 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 86
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:

  • "Northern Illinois Commit List for 2009". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  • "Scout.com: Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  • "Northern Illinois Basketball Recruiting 2009". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  • "2009 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 22, 2009.

Roster

Roster current as of September 9, when their summer prospectus was published.[1]

Name Number Position Height Weight Year Hometown
Darion "Jake" Anderson 32 G 6–2 202 Junior Chicago, Illinois
Antone Christian 3 G 6–1 189 Freshman Nashville, Tennessee
Mike DiNunno 11 G 5–11 188 Sophomore Chicago, Illinois
Ante Dzepina 15 C 6–8 230 Senior Kraljevica, Croatia
Najul Ervin 2 F 6–5 219 Senior Memphis, Tennessee
Michael Fakuade 55 C 6–7 227 Sophomore Chicago, Illinois
Lee Fisher 30 F 6–5 210 Sophomore Dolton, Illinois
Bryan Hall 1 G 6–1 162 Sophomore Chicago, Illinois
Sean Kowal 41 C 6–11 248 Junior St. Louis, Missouri
Jeremy Landers 24 G 6–2 185 Junior Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Tony Nixon 25 G 6–4 198 Freshman South Holland, Illinois
Michael Patton 4 G 5–10 181 Junior Boulder, Colorado
Justin Peaster 22 G 5–11 171 Sophomore Aurora, Illinois
Xavier Silas 13 G 6–5 201 Junior Austin, Texas
Keith Smith 10 G 5–5 135 Freshman Chicago, Illinois

Coaching staff

Name Position College Graduating year
Ricardo Patton Head coach Belmont University 1980
Sundance Wicks Assistant coach Northern State University 2003
Will Smith Assistant coach University of Colorado at Boulder 2000
Todd Townsend Assistant coach Marquette University 2005
Kent Dernbach Director of Basketball Operations
Kyle Schwan Video Coordinator Northern State University 2009

Schedule

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 1*
7:00 p.m. 		Aurora W 93–59
Stats 
Convocation Center 
DeKalb, Illinois
November 6*
7:00 p.m. 		Marygrove College W 120–50
Stats 
Convocation Center 
DeKalb, Illinois
Regular season
November 13*
8:00 p.m. 		at Northwestern W 77–55
Stats  		0–1
 Welsh-Ryan Arena (4,057)
Evanston, Illinois
November 17*
8:00 p.m., ESPN360 		at No. 23 Illinois L 61–80
Stats  		0–2
 Assembly Hall (14,979)
Champaign, Illinois
November 20*
8:00 p.m. 		Tennessee State W 85–57
Stats  		1–2
 Convocation Center (1,590)
DeKalb, Illinois
November 22
4:30 p.m. 		Southeast Missouri State L 64–70OT
Stats  		1–3
 Convocation Center (825)
DeKalb, Illinois
November 28*
8:05 p.m. 		at Northern Iowa L 45–52
Stats  		1–4
 McLeod Center (4,083)
Cedar Falls, Iowa
December 2*
8:00 p.m. 		Bradley L 49–63
Stats  		1–5
 Convocation Center (3,064)
DeKalb, Illinois
December 15*
7:00 p.m. 		at Minnesota L 48–89
Stats  		1–6
 Williams Arena (12,055)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
December 19*
3:00 p.m. 		at UIC L 49–69
Stats  		1–7
 UIC Pavilion (3,299)
Chicago, Illinois
December 22*
2:00 p.m. 		Maryland Eastern Shore W 87–69
Stats  		2–7
 Convocation Center (704)
DeKalb, Illinois
December 30*
7:00 p.m. 		No. 18 Temple L 60–70
Stats  		2–8
 Convocation Center (1,234)
DeKalb, Illinois
January 2*
3:00 p.m. 		North Dakota W 66–45
Stats  		3–8
 Convocation Center (1,024)
DeKalb, Illinois
January 6*
7:00 p.m. 		at Chicago State W 99–93
Stats  		4–8
 Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center (1,668)
Chicago, Illinois
January 9
2:00 p.m. 		at Ball State W 62–48
Stats  		5–8
(1–0) 		John E. Worthen Arena (2,725)
Muncie, Indiana
January 13
7:00 p.m. 		Western Michigan W 87–77
Stats  		6–8
(2–0) 		Convocation Center (1,463)
DeKalb, Illinois
January 16
4:00 p.m. 		Eastern Michigan W 77–69  7–8
(3–0) 		Convocation Center (2,003)
DeKalb, Illinois
January 20
7:00 p.m. 		at Toledo W 58–54  8–8
(4–0) 		Savage Arena (3,556)
Toledo, Ohio
January 23
6:30 p.m. 		at Central Michigan L 75–81  8–9
(4–1) 		Daniel P. Rose Center (2,317)
Mount Pleasant, Michigan
January 27
8:00 p.m. 		Ohio L 84–99  8–10
(4–2) 		Convocation Center (1,498)
DeKalb, Illinois
January 30
2:00 p.m. 		Buffalo L 83–95  8–11
(4–3) 		Convocation Center (3,448)
DeKalb, Illinois
February 1
7:00 p.m. 		at Kent State L 46–76  8–12
(4–4) 		Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (3,030)
Kent, Ohio
February 3
7:00 p.m. 		at Akron L 76–90  8–13
(4–5) 		James A. Rhodes Arena (2,591)
Akron, Ohio
February 6
4:00 p.m. 		Miami (OH) L 69–74  8–14
(4–6) 		Convocation Center (1,865)
DeKalb, Illinois
February 10
7:00 p.m. 		at Bowling Green L 69–73  8–15
(4–7) 		Anderson Arena (1,347)
Bowling Green, Ohio
February 13
4:00 p.m. 		Ball State L 66–71  8–16
(4–8) 		Convocation Center (1,537)
DeKalb, Illinois
February 17
7:00 p.m. 		at Western Michigan L 81–90  8–17
(4–9) 		University Arena (3,016)
Kalamazoo, Michigan
February 20*
7:00 p.m., ESPNU 		at Eastern Illinois
ESPNU BracketBusters 		L 73–71
stats  		8–18
(4–9) 		Lantz Arena (1787)
Charleston, Illinois
February 24
8:00 p.m. 		Central Michigan W 67–65
stats  		9–18
(5–9) 		Convocation Center (925)
DeKalb, Illinois
February 27
2:00 p.m. 		at Eastern Michigan L 66–60
stats  		9–19
(5–10) 		Convocation Center (1499)
Ypsilanti, Michigan
March 4
8:00 p.m. 		Toledo W 60–58
stats  		10–19
(6–10) 		Convocation Center (1322)
DeKalb, Illinois
Mid-American Conference tournament
March 7
2:00 p.m. 		Eastern Michigan
First Round 		L 59–65
stats  		10–20
 Convocation Center (675)
Ypsilanti, Michigan
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time Zone.

Statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  Ast  Assists  Blk  Blocks
 Stl  Steals  PPG  Points per game
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG Ast Blk Stl PPG
Xavier Silas 25 25 31.6 .383 .321 .811 5.3 41 12 20 19.7
Darion Anderson 30 28 27.9 .399 .208 .745 6.0 104 6 37 10.6
Sean Kowal 30 12 25.5 .542 1.000 .542 6.4 19 25 22 10.5
Mike Dinunno 30 21 23.7 .312 .290 .629 1.6 91 0 29 7.0
Tony Nixon 30 5 14.9 .362 .333 .440 1.6 15 2 6 4.3
Lee Fisher 28 21 18.8 .481 .000 .550 3.9 20 4 18 4.0
Michael Patton 27 2 13.1 .365 .333 .818 0.7 15 0 11 3.8
Michael Fakuade 30 15 11.6 .385 .273 .516 3.0 9 30 9 3.5
Bryan Hall 20 3 14.9 .538 1.000 .550 1.0 40 1 12 2.8
Tyler Storm 26 1 7.6 .322 .265 .692 1.2 9 0 8 2.2
Najul Ervin 28 10 13.0 .543 .000 .286 2.5 16 17 11 1.9
Jeremy Landers 26 6 8.7 .314 .222 .571 1.0 10 1 12 1.4
Ante Dzepina 24 1 7.2 .297 .000 .421 2.0 7 7 3 1.3
Justin Peaster 2 0 1.0 .000 .000 .500 0.0 0 0 0 0.5
Keith Smith 7 0 2.9 .000 .000 .000 0.6 3 0 0 0.0

References

  1. ^ "Huskie Basketball 2009-2010 Season Prospectus" (PDF) (Press release). Northern Illinois University. September 9, 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 4, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.