Tuesday, February 3, 2004
Huskies get date with Bradley
Sewasciuk’s calf still injured; NIU wore red at home on Sat.
Article by:
Mark Pickrel - Sports Reporter
• mpickrel@northernstar.info
The NIU men’s basketball team will play in-state rival Bradley
at 7:05 p.m. on Feb. 21 in Peoria for ESPN’s Bracketbuster Saturday.
The contest marks the seventh time the two programs have met with Bradley
holding a 5-1 advantage.
NIU coach Rob Judson was an assistant coach at Bradley from 1991-’96
under Jim Molinari.
The MAC and the Missouri Valley Conference are the only two conferences
to feature all member schools in the event. Of the 23 games, with teams
primarily from mid-major conferences, only 10 will be televised on ESPN
or ESPN 2; NIU’s will not be.
NIU will play Bradley at home during the 2004-’05 season as a
result of playing in Peoria this season.
“We are excited to compete in the ESPN Bracketbuster event,”
Judson said. “We are excited about the opportunity to face a great
Bradley program and look forward to hosting them at our place next season.”
Sharp-shooter still out
Senior guard Al Sewasciuk remains sidelined with a left calf injury
and doesn’t appear to be getting better, NIU coach Rob Judson said.
“[Sewasciuk’s is] on and off crutches,” Judson said.
“It’s not a day-to-day thing; it’s aways from that.”
Sewasciuk hurt the muscle in NIU’s 86-65 win over Eastern Michigan
on Jan. 14.
The senior had a season-high nine points against both Cornell (Iowa)
and BYU-Hawaii.
Sewasciuk is averaging three points per game and is third on NIU’s
career list with 146 three-point field goal makes.
Seeing red
For the first time this season, NIU wore its away red jerseys at home
on Saturday against Toledo.
In college basketball, it is customary for the home team to wear white
or a light color.
Judson used the jerseys to give his guys some energy, he said.
“We did it to fire the guys up,” Judson said. “It worked
at first.”
The retro jerseys, similar to those of the Chicago Bulls, worked the
better part of the first half.
NIU came out on a 22-8 run before succumbing to Toledo’s hot shooting
led by senior Keith Triplett who finished with a game-high 21 points.
MAC players of the week
Two juniors were named MAC players of the week.
From the West Division, Levi Rost averaged 21 points and five rebounds
per game in wins over Ohio and Eastern Michigan.
Rost averaged 5.5 points per game going into last week.
Rost scored a career-high 26 points in a 96-73 win over Ohio and added
16 points in a 75-55 win over Eastern Michigan.
Earlier this season, Rost’s twin sister, Casey, was honored as
the women’s MAC West Division Player of the Week.
Turner Battle was the selection from the East after leading Buffalo
to back-to-back wins over Akron and Ball State.
Battle averaged 23.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.0 steals
during the week.
In a home game against the Zips, Battle scored a career-high 26 points
on 9-for-12 from the field and 4-of-4 from three-point range. He also
had six assists and three steals.
Battle also scored 20 points in giving Ball State its first home MAC
loss of the season.
© 2004 Northern Star. All Rights Reserved.
