# 2015–16 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies, led by fifth 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 21–13, 9–9 in MAC play to finish in a tie for third place in the West Division. They defeated Western Michigan in the first round of the MAC tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Ohio. They were invited to the inaugural Vegas 16, which only had eight teams, where they lost in the quarterfinals to UC Santa Barbara.

## Previous season

The Huskies finished the season 14–16, 8–10 in MAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the West Division. They lost in the first round of the MAC tournament to Akron.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Pete Rakocevic | 0 | C | 6'11" | 245 | RS Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Aaron Armstead | 2 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Kevin Gray | 13 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated & transferred to Minnesota State |
| Keith Gray | 21 | F | 6'8" | 225 | RS Junior | Chicago, IL | Graduated & transferred to Flagler College |
| Anthony Johnson | 33 | G | 6'3" | 190 | RS Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| Jordan Threloff | 42 | F | 6'9" | 255 | RS Senior | DeKalb, IL | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Andrew Zelis | 32 | C | 7'0" | 245 | Junior | Wheaton, IL | Junior college transferred from Kaskaskia College |

## Recruiting class of 2015

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Marshawn Wilson #27 PG | Oakdale, MN | Hill-Murray School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Mar 31, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Jaylen Key #39 PF | Milwaukee, WI | Homestead High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 7, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Levi Bradley SF | Milwaukee, WI | Pius XI High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Sep 7, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Laytwan Porter PG | Rockford, IL | Auburn High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Sep 8, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Austin Pauga SG | Naperville, IL | IMG Academy | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Oct 14, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| 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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 20, 2015. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Eugene German PG | Gary, IN | 21st Century Charter School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 150 lb (68 kg) | Jun 21, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Noah McCarty PF | Sterling, IL | Newman Central Catholic High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Aug 9, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Nick Wagner PG | Galesville, WI | Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 6, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 20, 2015. |||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||
| 11/13/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Cal State Northridge NIU Showcase | W 83–71 | 1–0 | Convocation Center (995) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/14/2015* 3:30 pm | South Dakota NIU Showcase | W 72–65 | 2–0 | Convocation Center (913) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/15/2015* 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | Wright State NIU Showcase | W 65–59 | 3–0 | Convocation Center (888) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/21/2015* 1:00 pm | Eureka | W 100–52 | 4–0 | Convocation Center (457) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/25/2015* 7:00 pm | Indiana Northwest | W 87–55 | 5–0 | Convocation Center (578) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/28/2015* 9:00 pm | at Idaho | W 66–59 | 6–0 | Memorial Gym (571) Moscow, ID |
| 12/02/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Chicago State | W 80–58 | 7–0 | Convocation Center (1,047) DeKalb, IL |
| 12/04/2015* 7:00 pm | at Missouri | L 71–78 | 7–1 | Mizzou Arena (6,214) Columbia, MO |
| 12/16/2015* 6:00 pm, BTN | at Ohio State | L 54–67 | 7–2 | Value City Arena (12,880) Columbus, OH |
| 12/19/2015* 2:00 pm | FIU | W 78–75 $^{2OT}$ | 8–2 | Convocation Center (959) DeKalb, IL |
| 12/22/2015* 7:00 pm | Roosevelt | W 85–52 | 9–2 | Convocation Center (823) DeKalb, IL |
| 12/29/2015* 7:00 pm | at UIC | W 70–65 | 10–2 | UIC Pavilion (2,349) Chicago, IL |
| 01/02/2016* 1:00 pm | Judson | W 91–48 | 11–2 | Convocation Center (1,073) DeKalb, IL |
| MAC Regular season |||||
| 01/06/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Ohio | W 80–69 | 12–2 (1–0) | Convocation Center (1,038) DeKalb, IL |
| 01/09/2016 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | Eastern Michigan | W 80–63 | 13–2 (2–0) | Convocation Center (1,349) DeKalb, IL |
| 01/12/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Toledo | W 71–66 | 14–2 (3–0) | Savage Arena (4,271) Toledo, OH |
| 01/16/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Western Michigan | L 69–83 | 14–3 (3–1) | University Arena (2,649) Kalamazoo, MI |
| 01/19/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Central Michigan | W 75–70 | 15–3 (4–1) | Convocation Center (1,497) DeKalb, IL |
| 01/22/2016 5:30 pm, CBSSN | Toledo | W 58–49 | 16–3 (5–1) | Convocation Center (3,166) DeKalb, IL |
| 01/26/2016 6:00 pm | at Akron | L 66–76 | 16–4 (5–2) | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,205) Akron, OH |
| 01/30/2016 2:30 pm, ESPN3 | at Miami (OH) | L 59–72 | 16–5 (5–3) | Millett Hall (1,297) Oxford, OH |
| 02/02/2016 8:00 pm, ASN | Buffalo | L 78–90 | 16–6 (5–4) | Convocation Center (1,494) DeKalb, IL |
| 02/06/2016 1:00 pm | at Ohio | L 69–80 | 16–7 (5–5) | Convocation Center (8,773) Athens, OH |
| 02/09/2016 6:00 pm | at Kent State | L 74–75 | 16–8 (5–6) | MAC Center (2,764) Kent, OH |
| 02/13/2016 4:45 pm, ESPN3 | Akron | W 80–79 | 17–8 (6–6) | Convocation Center (3,457) DeKalb, IL |
| 02/16/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Bowling Green | W 71–60 | 18–8 (7–6) | Convocation Center (1,148) DeKalb, IL |
| 02/19/2016 5:30 pm, CBSSN | at Ball State | L 59–63 | 18–9 (7–7) | John E. Worthen Arena (5,160) Muncie, IN |
| 02/23/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Central Michigan | L 64–76 | 18–10 (7–8) | McGuirk Arena (2,371) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| 02/27/2016 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | Western Michigan | W 76–67 | 19–10 (8–8) | Convocation Center (3,019) DeKalb, IL |
| 03/01/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Eastern Michigan | L 71–75 | 19–11 (8–9) | Convocation Center (993) Ypsilanti, MI |
| 03/04/2016 6:00 pm, CBSSN | Ball State | W 80–69 | 20–11 (9–9) | Convocation Center (2,102) DeKalb, IL |
| MAC tournament |||||
| 03/07/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | Western Michigan First round | W 56–50 | 21–11 | Convocation Center (1,594) DeKalb, IL |
| 03/10/2016 5:30 pm, ESPN3 | vs. Ohio Quarterfinals | L 62–79 | 21–12 | Quicken Loans Arena (2,311) Cleveland, OH |
| Vegas 16 |||||
| 03/28/2016* 4:30 pm, CBSSN | vs. UC Santa Barbara Quarterfinals | L 63–70 | 21–13 | Mandalay Bay Events Center Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||