# 2016–17 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies, led by sixth-year head coach Mark Montgomery, played their home games at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 7–11 in MAC play to finish in a tie for eighth place. As the No. 9 seed in the MAC tournament, they lost in the first round to Eastern Michigan.

## Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2015–16 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 before losing to Ohio in the quarterfinals. They received an invitation to the inaugural Vegas 16, which only had eight teams, and lost in the quarterfinals to UC Santa Barbara.

## Preseason

Northern Illinois was picked to finish in third place in the West Division in the MAC preseason poll. Marin Maric was selected to the West Division All-MAC preseason team.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Travon Baker | 5 | G | 5'10" | 170 | Senior | Detroit, MI | Graduated |
| Darrell Bowie | 10 | G/F | 6'7" | 220 | Senior | Milwaukee, WI | Graduated |
| Chuks Iroegbu | 11 | G/F | 6'4" | 210 | RS Senior | Elk Grove, CA | Graduated |
| Jordan Thomas | 12 | G | 5'11" | 185 | Sophomore | Northfield, IL | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Michael Orris | 24 | G | 6'2" | 200 | RS Junior | Crete, IL | Graduate transferred to South Dakota State |
| Jay DeHaan | 25 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Sophomore | Naperville, IL | Walk-on; transferred to UW–Parkside |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Lacey James | 4 | F | 6'9" | 220 | Sophomore | Grand Rapids, MI | Transferred from Rider. Under NCAA transfer rules, James will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. Will join the team as a preferred walk-on. |
| Sean Damaska | 21 | C | 6'7" | 252 | RS Senior | Milton, GA | Transferred from Indiana. Will be eligible to play immediately since Damaska graduated from Indiana. Will join the team as a preferred walk-on. |

## Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| 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 October 5, 2016. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Owen Hamilton #37 C | Prescott, WI | Prescott High School | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 245 lb (111 kg) | Sep 18, 2016 |
| 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 5, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 PM, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | W 80–78 $^{OT}$ | 1–0 | Convocation Center (1,565) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/14/2016* 7:00 PM | | Roosevelt | W 99–55 | 2–0 | Convocation Center (756) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/16/2016* 8:00 PM, ESPN3 | | Idaho | W 63–49 | 3–0 | Convocation Center (1,430) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/19/2016* 10:00 PM | | at Cal State Northridge | L 82–84 | 3–1 | Matadome (886) Northridge, CA |
| 11/23/2016* 7:00 PM, ESPN3 | | Cal Poly NIU Thanksgiving Classic | L 64–68 | 3–2 | Convocation Center (844) DeKalb, IL |
| 11/25/2016* 1:00 PM | | Elon NIU Thanksgiving Classic | L 80–85 $^{2OT}$ | 3–3 | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| 11/26/2016* 3:30 PM | | UIC NIU Thanksgiving Classic | W 92–81 | 4–3 | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 PM, ESPN3 | | at Indiana State | L 52–63 | 4–4 | Hulman Center (3,730) Terre Haute, IN |
| 12/11/2016* 4:00 PM, BTN | | at Minnesota | L 57–77 | 4–5 | Williams Arena (8,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| 12/14/2016* 7:00 PM | | Olivet Nazarene | W 95–69 | 5–5 | Convocation Center (523) DeKalb, IL |
| 12/17/2016* 6:00 PM | | at FIU | W 60–53 | 6–5 | FIU Arena (810) Miami, FL |
| 12/20/2016* 7:00 PM, ESPN3 | | at South Florida | W 59–48 | 7–5 | USF Sun Dome (2,129) Tampa, FL |
| 12/31/2016* 3:30 PM | | Illinois–Springfield | W 77–62 | 8–5 | Convocation Center (1,083) DeKalb, IL |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| 01/03/2017 6:00 PM, ESPN3 | | at Miami (OH) | L 67–69 | 8–6 (0–1) | Millett Hall (1,151) Oxford, OH |
| 01/07/2017 3:30 PM | | Central Michigan | W 87–83 | 9–6 (1–1) | Convocation Center (1,717) DeKalb, IL |
| 01/10/2017 6:00 PM | | at Kent State | W 74–70 | 10–6 (2–1) | MAC Center (2,033) Kent, OH |
| 01/14/2017 11:00 AM, ESPN3 | | at Bowling Green | W 69–52 | 11–6 (3–1) | Stroh Center Bowling Green, OH |
| 01/17/2017 7:00 PM, ESPN3 | | Miami (OH) | W 62–58 | 12–6 (4–1) | Convocation Center (1,053) DeKalb, IL |
| 01/21/2017 7:00 PM, ESPN3 | | Ohio | L 69–78 | 12–7 (4–2) | Convocation Center (2,167) DeKalb, IL |
| 01/24/2017 7:00 PM, ESPN3 | | Kent State | L 66–73 | 12–8 (4–3) | Convocation Center (868) DeKalb, IL |
| 01/28/2017 6:00 PM, ESPN3 | | at Toledo | W 74–72 | 13–8 (5–3) | Savage Arena (4,864) Toledo, OH |
| 01/31/2017 7:00 PM, ESPN3 | | Akron | L 73–76 | 13–9 (5–4) | Convocation Center (1,042) DeKalb, IL |
| 02/04/2017 3:30 PM, ESPN3 | | Eastern Michigan | W 81–69 | 14–9 (6–4) | Convocation Center (2,443) DeKalb, IL |
| 02/07/2017 6:00 PM, ESPN3 | | at Buffalo | L 45–65 | 14–10 (6–5) | Alumni Arena (3,212) Amherst, NY |
| 02/11/2017 6:00 PM, ESPN3 | | at Western Michigan | L 67–76 | 14–11 (6–6) | University Arena (3,140) Kalamazoo, MI |
| 02/14/2017 7:00 PM, ESPN3 | | Ball State | L 72–81 | 14–12 (6–7) | Convocation Center (759) DeKalb, IL |
| 02/18/2017 3:30 PM, ESPN3 | | Toledo | L 80–88 $^{OT}$ | 14–13 (6–8) | Convocation Center (2,007) DeKalb, IL |
| 02/21/2017 6:00 PM, ESPN3 | | at Central Michigan | W 89–66 | 15–13 (7–8) | McGuirk Arena (2,531) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| 02/25/2017 11:00 AM, ESPN3 | | at Eastern Michigan | L 68–84 | 15–14 (7–9) | Convocation Center (1,115) Ypsilanti, MI |
| 02/28/2017 7:00 PM, ESPN3 | | Western Michigan | L 56–70 | 15–15 (7–10) | Convocation Center (862) DeKalb, IL |
| 03/03/2017 6:00 PM, ESPN3 | | at Ball State | L 82–87 | 15–16 (7–11) | Worthen Arena (4,457) Muncie, IN |
| MAC tournament ||||||
| 03/06/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (9) | at (8) Eastern Michigan first round | L 69–72 | 15–17 | Convocation Center (981) Ypsilanti, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||