Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Men’s hoops to face Toledo
Smallwood will not play for second game in a row
Article by:
Mark Pickrel - Sports Reporter
• mpickrel@northernstar.info
For the second straight game, NIU will play without senior forward Marcus
Smallwood.
Smallwood missed Monday’s 83-74 loss to Central Michigan and will
miss a 6 p.m. tipoff today at Toledo’s Savage Hall.
In response to a question about Smallwood’s status for NIU’s
game against Ball State on Saturday, NIU coach Rob Judson preferred
to talk about Toledo.
“We’re just concentrating on our game tomorrow night,”
Judson said.
After the game in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. NIU stayed overnight in Lansing,
Mich.
The team stopped at Siena Heights University to work out.
Judson is friends with Siena Heights coach Fred Smith, and Judson said
the workout stops are done often on road trips.
Today’s game against Toledo marks the second time in less than
two weeks the teams have met.
The Rockets won the first contest, 77-64, on Jan. 31 at the Convocation
Center.
In that game, Toledo’s lone senior starter Keith Triplett scored
a game-high 21 points on 5-of-7 three-point shooting.
Triplett enters todays contest second in the conference in scoring
and steals and is third in three-point field goal percentage.
NIU has averaged 16 turnovers in the last four games, including 20
against Central Michigan.
“Most of our turnovers have been fundamental, as opposed to turnovers
in our offense,” Judson said. “We need to work on being fundamentally
sound with the ball and stronger when we get it inside.”
In NIU’s loss to Central Michigan, NIU senior Al Sewasciuk played
for the first time since he injured his left calf against Eastern Michigan
on Jan. 14.
The senior guard played two minutes and had zero points.
Sewasciuk practiced over the weekend and will be available on today.
“He’s coming along well,” Judson said. “His leg
is in pretty good shape. Now we need to work on getting him back into
game shape.”
Redshirt sophomore Bryson McKenzie will miss the remainder of the season
with a knee injury.
McKenzie will undergo surgery on Feb. 19 to repair a knee cap that
is out of place, Judson said.
McKenzie will apply for a medical hardship from the NCAA in which he
would gain back this year of eligibility. The 6-foot-10 center has played
in 20 percent of NIU’s games. The most a player can compete and
still apply for the hardship.
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