Scouting Northern Illinois

2010-11 Record: 7-11 (3-3 Mid-American Conference)

2009-10 Record: 10-20 (6-10 MAC)

All-Time Series: Huskies lead 13-10. The Bulls have won the last four meetings

Last Season: Buffalo won the only meeting (in DeKalb, Ill.)

Bulls – 95

Huskies – 83

Bulls Game Notes:

- The Bulls are 10-1 when outrebounding their opponent. They're 2-5 when they lose the rebounding battle.

- Bulls have shot 50 percent or better in eight of their last 10 games.

- Junior guard Zach Filzen – the team's leading scorer (14.8) – has made 11 3-pointers in his last two games. He ranks fourth in the nation with 3.4 triples per contest and is 10th in the country in total 3-pointers with 62.

- Freshman forward Javon McCrea has led the team in scoring during the first six games in the MAC with a 15.2-point average over that stretch. He also leads the team overall in rebounds on the season with 6.9 per game.

Players to Watch:

XAVIER SILAS – SG – Senior

Silas is the only player listed on the watch list for this game because he is considered by most to be a one man wrecking crew. The senior transfer from Colorado is absolutely destroying every team in his path this season and currently ranks second in the nation in scoring, behind only BYU superstar Jimmer Fredette, with 24.7 points per game.

Head coach Reggie Witherspoon couldn't stop singing the praises of the electric Huskies scoring threat.

"He can really score, and he has great size for a perimeter guy," Witherspoon said. "He can rebound the ball like a [power forward] and he handles the ball like a two-guard. He's a terrific player."

What separates Silas from most number-one scorers is that he is a physical wing player that can bang down low and also obliterate a team from behind the three-point arc. He is the guy who everyone on Northern Illinois looks to and defers to.

Junior forward Dave Barnett, who is coming off of a career-high scoring night (16 points) against Western Michigan, will draw the assignment of slowing down Silas to start the game.

Witherspoon will depend on Barnett but also thinks it will take a team effort to slow him down and neutralize him.

"We learned in the Brigham Young game, you got a guy [Jimmer Fredette] that scores that much, you have to have a consistent lockdown effort," Witherspoon said. "You can't give extra chances and you can't give them anything that would be perceived as easy because then they get into a rhythm…Once [Xavier] smells blood in the water he attacks, and that's what great scorer's do."

Keys to the Game:

Aside from finding a way to stop Silas, the Bulls have to avoid the eventual let down game. This game is a perfect storm in that Buffalo has won four in a row and the last two were shocking wins. It has happened in the past – a Bulls team has overlooked a winnable home game after a run in the MAC and has been brought back to reality in a hurry.

Senior guard Byron Mulkey can't let his team fall victim to that mentality. He has to generate the excitement early on and hopefully feed off of a loud and vibrant student section, if fans come out the same way they did in the Bulls' last home game.

Witherspoon thinks there is nothing that gets a team going more than a loud and excited home crowd and student section.

"I'm really looking forward to Saturday to see if it becomes a ground-swell of student support," Witherspoon said. "Because when you have that, that's when it's really difficult for the visiting team. They can start you going and ignite the flames. That's when it's easy to find your rhythm."

Prediction:

The Bulls seem to be a team that sticks together and has a collective understanding of how important every game is. With that said, Silas is a monster and is going to present the Bulls with a large challenge.

Fredette gave Alumni Arena a show it won't soon forget with his 28-point second half explosion, and I think the Bulls have that feeling fresh in their memories. Expect the team to feed off of a big home crowd, and Mulkey should lead his team to victory.

Bulls – 81

Huskies – 72