Saturday, November 29th, 5:30 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Sears Centre (10,000) -- Hoffman, Estates, Illinois. Television: None. Home Record: Northern Iowa 3-0, Auburn 3-1. Away Record: Northern Iowa 0-1, Auburn 0-0. Neutral Record: Northern Iowa 0-1, Auburn 0-1. Conference Record: Northern Iowa 0-0, Auburn 0-0. Series Record: First-ever meeting.

GAME NOTES: The Auburn Tigers and Northern Iowa Panthers close out play in the Chicago Invitational this evening, as the two meet up in consolation action from the Sears Center. The Tigers were outlasted by Dayton in Friday's action, falling to the Flyers by the narrowest of margins, a 60-59 overtime loss. With the setback, Auburn falls to 3-2 on the year. The Panthers are also 3-2 on the season, but knew their fate on Friday much sooner in their game with 15th- ranked Marquette, getting torched by the Golden Eagles, 73-43. The loss snapped a brief two-game win streak for NIU, which had beaten Texas Southern (74-67) and Chicago State (81-70) prior to Friday's game. This is the first- ever meeting between these two teams on the hardwood.

The Panthers fell victim to a much more talented Marquette squad on Friday, as a 20-0 first half run for the Golden Eagles put the game out of reach early on, and NIU went on to drop a 30-point decision (73-43). Not much went right offensively for the Panthers, who shot a mere .353 from the floor overall, including a horrific 3-of-21 effort from behind the arc. The team also only made it to the free-throw line seven times in the game, converting four charity tosses overall. Kwadzo Ahelegbe was the only player to finish in double figures in the setback, tallying 11 points. Jordan Eglseder chipped in eight points and grabbed six rebounds, but little else went right for the Panthers, who turned the ball over 14 times and were outrebounded 42-29. This is not a team that is chock-full of prolific scoring threats. The Panthers are averaging just 67.2 ppg this year, led by Adam Koch and Johnny Moran, who are netting 12.8 ppg apiece. Eglseder rounds out the double-digit threats with 12.0 ppg.

The Tigers got a huge effort from DeWayne Reed, who netted a career-high 22 points, including 21 in the second half, but it wasn't enough to get Auburn past the Dayton Flyers, in a 60-59 overtime decision. Auburn squandered its chance at the victory, holding Dayton to only two points over the final 5:13 of regulation, while mustering a mere four points itself to force overtime. Reed was joined in double figures by Tay Waller and Korvotney Barber, who chipped in 10 points each in the loss. The 59 points scored were a season low for Auburn, which is averaging 70.4 ppg thus far. Barber is the team's top scorer (13.6 ppg) and ranks second in rebounding (5.8 rpg), but has 16 turnovers compared to just one assist. He is followed closely in the scoring column by Waller and Reed, who add 13.0 and 12.4 ppg, respectively.

The Tigers should be able to bounce back and get a win here. The Panthers' lack of offensive weapons should once again hinder the team against a more athletic Auburn squad.

Predicted Outcome

Auburn 73, Northern Iowa 64