Buffalo visits Northern Illinois following Mballa's 23-point outing

Buffalo Bulls (17-8, 11-4 MAC) at Northern Illinois Huskies (8-18, 5-11 MAC)

DeKalb, Illinois; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST

LINE: Northern Illinois -11.5; over/under is 148.5

BOTTOM LINE: Buffalo faces the Northern Illinois Huskies after Josh Mballa scored 23 points in Buffalo's 86-84 victory against the Miami (OH) RedHawks.

The Huskies are 2-6 on their home court. Northern Illinois is fifth in the MAC in team defense, allowing 72.2 points while holding opponents to 45.5% shooting.

The Bulls are 11-4 in MAC play. Buffalo is the MAC leader with 39.4 rebounds per game led by Mballa averaging 8.7.

The Huskies and Bulls face off Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Keshawn Williams is scoring 16.5 points per game with 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists for the Huskies. Trendon Hankerson is averaging 11.8 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 38.0% over the last 10 games for Northern Illinois.

Mballa is averaging 13.7 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Bulls. Jeenathan Williams is averaging 16.0 points over the last 10 games for Buffalo.

LAST 10 GAMES: Huskies: 3-7, averaging 68.3 points, 28.6 rebounds, 11.9 assists, 5.9 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.9 points per game.

Bulls: 8-2, averaging 81.6 points, 42.2 rebounds, 16.1 assists, 7.6 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 46.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.4 points.

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