# 2013–14 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The 2012–13 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies, led by third year head coach Mark Montgomery, played their home games at the Convocation Center as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 8–10 in MAC play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. They advanced to the second round of the MAC tournament where they lost to Eastern Michigan.

## Season
### Preseason

The Huskies announced their complete season schedule on September 3, 2013. Highlighted by an early November tournament at home featuring San Jose State, James Madison, and Milwaukee, the Huskies schedule included 16 home games. The Huskies also scheduled to make trips to Nebraska, UMass, and Iowa State. For the conference schedule, the Huskies schedule home-and-home series with Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Western Michigan, Buffalo, and Kent State, while hosting Ohio and Miami and visiting Akron and Bowling Green.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Abdel Nader | 23 | F | 6'7" | 225 | Junior | Skokie, IL | Transferred |
| Akeem Springs | 2 | G | 6'3" | 208 | Sophomore | Waukegan, IL | Transferred |
| Brandon Hayes | 4 | F | 6'4" | 200 | Graduate | Homewood, IL | Graduated |
| Mike Davis | 24 | G | 6'2" | 200 | Sophomore | Cleveland, OH | Transferred |
| Tony Nixon | 25 | G | 6'4" | 207 | Graduate | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Sam Mader | 2 | G | 6'9" | 220 | Sophomore | Appelton, WI | Transferred |

## Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Dontel Highsmith PG | Dowagiac, MI | Dowagiac Union High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 68 ||||||
| Aaric Armstead SF | Chicago, IL | La Jolla Prep | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 65 ||||||
| Marin Maric C | Split, CR | La Lumiere School (Ind.) | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: Not Ranked Rivals: Not Ranked ESPN: Not Ranked ||||||
| 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: "2013 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||
NIU also got Aaron Armstead, transfer from San Jose City College. Redshirted last year, Pete Rakocevic is also eligible this year.

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||
| 11/2/2013* 5:00 pm | Rockford | W 90–57 | | Convocation Center (701) DeKalb, IL |
| Non-conference games |||||
| 11/8/2013* 7:00 pm | Nebraska–Omaha | L 66–68 | 0–1 | Convocation Center (1,060) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/15/2013* 8:00 pm | James Madison NIU Invitational | L 55–60 | 0–2 | Convocation Center (1,113) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/16/2013* 8:00 pm | San Jose State NIU Invitational | W 60–59 | 1–2 | Convocation Center (753) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/17/2013* 3:30 pm | Milwaukee NIU Invitational | L 69–82 | 1–3 | Convocation Center (474) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/24/2013* 3:00 pm | Saint Joseph's (IN) | W 111–61 | 2–3 | Convocation Center (663) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/30/2013* 12:00 pm | at Nebraska | L 58–63 | 2–4 | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,332) Lincoln, NE |
| 12/5/2013* 7:00 pm | Dartmouth | W 64–57 | 3–4 | Convocation Center (625) DeKalb, IL |
| 12/14/2013* 2:00 pm, NBCSN | at No. 21 Massachusetts | L 54–80 | 3–5 | William D. Mullins Memorial Center (4694) Amherst, MA |
| 12/18/2013* 7:00 pm | at Loyola (IL) | W 55–49 | 4–5 | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1517) Chicago, IL |
| 12/22/2013* 4:00 pm | at UC Riverside | W 71–64 | 5–5 | UC Riverside Student Recreation Center (236) Riverside, CA |
| 12/31/2013* 6:00 pm | at No. 14 Iowa State | L 63–99 | 5–6 | Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, IA |
| 1/3/2014* 7:00 pm | Bethune-Cookman | W 65–51 | 6–6 | Convocation Center (657) DeKalb, IL |
| Conference games |||||
| 1/8/2014 6:00 pm | at Buffalo | L 46–67 | 6–7 (0–1) | Alumni Arena (1,520) Amherst, NY |
| 1/12/2014 3:30 pm | at Bowling Green | W 45–36 | 7–7 (1–1) | Stroh Center (1,982) Bowling Green, OH |
| 1/15/2014 7:00 pm | Kent State | L 64–73 | 7–8 (1–2) | Convocation Center (651) DeKalb, IL |
| 1/18/2014 7:00 pm | Ohio | L 46–65 | 7–9 (1–3) | Convocation Center (1,667) DeKalb, IL |
| 1/22/2014 6:00 pm | at Toledo | L 68–77 | 7–10 (1–4) | Savage Arena (4,335) Toledo, OH |
| 1/25/2014 1:00 pm | Buffalo | L 67–75 | 7–11 (1–5) | Convocation Center (901) DeKalb, IL |
| 1/29/2014 6:00 pm, ESPN 3 | at Kent State | W 50–49 | 8–11 (2–5) | MAC Center (2,234) Kent, OH |
| 2/1/2014 1:00 pm | at Ball State | W 67–65 $^{OT}$ | 9–11 (3–5) | John E. Worthen Arena (2,786) Muncie, IN |
| 2/4/2014 7:00 pm, ESPN 3 | Miami (OH) | W 53–41 | 10–11 (4–5) | Convocation Center (644) DeKalb, IL |
| 2/9/2014 3:30 pm | Western Michigan | L 71–74 | 10–12 (4–6) | Convocation Center (2,005) DeKalb, IL |
| 2/12/2014 7:00 pm | Central Michigan | W 88–63 | 11–12 (5–6) | Convocation Center (773) DeKalb, IL |
| 2/15/2014 6:00 pm | at Akron | L 54–62 | 11–13 (5–7) | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,642) Akron, OH |
| 2/20/2014 7:00 pm, ESPN 3 | Eastern Michigan | W 61–59 | 12–13 (6–7) | Convocation Center (877) DeKalb, IL |
| 2/23/2014 1:00 pm | at Central Michigan | L 67–70 | 12–14 (6–8) | McGuirk Arena (1,797) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| 2/26/2014 7:00 pm | Toledo | W 74–66 | 13–14 (7–8) | Convocation Center (1,254) DeKalb, IL |
| 3/1/2014 1:00 pm | at Eastern Michigan | W 56–52 | 13–15 (7–9) | Convocation Center (815) Ypsilanti, MI |
| 3/4/2014 6:00 pm | at Western Michigan | L 56–61 | 13–16 (7–10) | University Arena (3,176) Kalamazoo, MI |
| 3/8/2014 3:30 pm | Ball State | W 70–56 | 14–16 (8–10) | Convocation Center (2,144) DeKalb, IL |
| MAC tournament |||||
| 03/10/2014 7:00 pm | vs. Bowling Green First round | W 54–51 | 15–16 | Convocation Center (941) DeKalb, IL |
| 03/12/2014 9:00 pm | vs. Eastern Michigan Second round | L 48–53 | 15–17 | Quicken Loans Arena (1,513) Cleveland, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. |||||