# 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.

## 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

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | 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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Justin Lee SF | Lawrenceville, GA | Collins Hill High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Oct 11, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: 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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 30, 2018. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | 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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Keenon Cole PF | Streamwood, IL | Streamwood High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A | Jun 29, 2018 |
| 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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 30, 2018. |||||||

## 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. ||||||
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