Just a few short weeks ago Northern Illinois was 5-1 in the MAC and sitting in the driver's seat in the MAC West. They were popping up on projected brackets for the NCAA Tournament and excitement surrounded the program.
Then a five-game losing streak happened.
Losses at Akron, Miami, Ohio and Kent State combined with a loss at home to Buffalo brought the Huskies back down to the rest of the division. A Saturday afternoon match-up with Akron was a tough task to handle, but the Huskies proved they were up to it.
Aaric Armstead put up 21 points and netted the final two free throws to pull the Huskies past Akron 80-79.