Northern Illinois Basketball Team Sets Record in Futility

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jan 28, 2013 8:00PM

The Northern Illinois Huskies football program has earned some respect in recent years, even gaining a coveted BCS bowl bid last season. However, don't expect a similar showing from their basketball team. There's no chance the Huskies basketball team become a trendy mid-major pick to crack the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight anytime soon. In fact, the men's team set an NCAA record in futility over the weekend in their 42-25 loss to Eastern Michigan on Saturday.

They only hit the quarter century mark after a relatively robust 21-point output in the second half. Which means the Huskies managed just four points in the first half—an NCAA Division I record for fewest points in a half in the shot clock era. We don't even remember a half that poor during our pee wee hoops days. NIU also set records for lowest shooting percentage in a half, made just one of 31 attempts for 3.2 percent shooting and set the single game mark at 13.1 percent shooting on the afternoon. They shot just one for 33 from three-point in the game. That's layin' a lot of bricks!

The four point half breaks a record most recently tied by these same Huskies back on Dec. 1 against the Dayton Flyers, NIU managed five points in the first half. And yet somehow, the Huskies have managed to win four games this season, and currently sport a 4-14 record.