Updated Apr 5, 2011 - 9:30 am
SU @ NIU
Seattle U (9-16) vs Northern Illinois Huskies (7-17) (3-9) Mid-American
Convocation Center (DeKalb, ILL.)
Saturday February 19, 2011 1:00 pm
RADIO: 710 ESPN Seattle INTERNET AUDIO: seattleufan.com
Series- First Meeting
Last Meeting- n/a
Scouting NIU:
NIU has struggled again this season as the rebruilding process continues under Head Coach Ricardo Patton. Patton is in his 4th year at the helm after guiding future Pac-12 team Colorado for 12 seasons. The Huskies have not finished above .500 in his tenure and this year will be no exception. The conference season startedin promising fashion with a 3-3 mark, but their good fortune has fizzled and they have dropped 6 conference games in a row. They have been on the wrong end in 8 of their last 9 ball game sheading ginto their final non-conference battle of the season. Defense has been the issue for the Huskies. They are giving up a whppinhg 75.62 points per game which is 316th in the nation. Thanks to their leaky defense they are forced to outscore their opponents. They are 5-2 when scoring over 80 points, but just 2-15 when falling short of the 80 point plateu. They are capable of reaching the lofty 80 point mark thanks mostly to one player.
The Ones to Watch:
Xavier Silas- 6'5 198 SR G- 23.5 ppg 4.6 rbs 1.9 assts
The Colorado transfer is a big-time scorer. He currently sits 5th in the nation in scoring trailing only Jimmer Fredette (BYU- 27.3), Adrian Oliver (San Jose State- 24.5), Marshon Brooks (Providence- 24.3) and Charles Jenkins (Hofstra- 23.5). He hurts opponents in a number of ways. He has sunk 169 free-throws this year which is second best in the nation. He hlaso shoots a lofty 85% from the stripe. He nailed his first 28 from there this season. He can torch the twine from downtown hitting 42% from 3 (52-124). He can get to the basket with effeincey shooting 46% overall from the floor. He has gone over 30 points 6 times this season including a 40 point game against Illionis-Chicago. He is coming off his worst game of the season with just 7 points on 3-11 shooting. He was saddled with foul trouble most of the night and never could get it cooking in a 77-65 loss to Western Michigan.
Keys to the Game:
1- Rebound- The tallest player in the NIU starting lineup stand at 6'7. SU outrebound sopponents by 11.6 in wins and is outrebounded by 5.5 in losses.
2- Slow down Silas- This should be a great match-up with elite defender Lever on him.
3- Pound the ball inside- Jones and Broussard have the potential to have huge nights for SeattleU.
Numbers to Know:
- 4- - The number of time zones SeattleU has played in this year.
- 7- Where Garrett Lever sits on the all-time single season steals list
- 1- The number of steals Lever needs to move into a tie for 5th on the list.
- 32- The average number of points for Silas in NIU wins
-19- The average number of points for Silas in NIU losses.
Tune in at 1:00 pm on 710 ESPN Seattle and the live blog will be cooking at seattleufan.com.
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Gary Hill Jr. has been immersed in the Pacific Northwest sports scene since childhood. Growing up in Tacoma listening to Bob Blackburn, Pete Gross, Dave Niehaus, Bob Robertson, Kevin Calabro, Bob Rondeau and the other local royalty of radio ignited an unyielding passion for sports broadcasting that eventually lured him to Washington State University. Since college Gary has served as play-by-play announcer, analyst or studio host for Seattle University, the Seattle SuperSonics, Seattle Storm, the University of Washington, and the University of Puget Sound among others. 
