DeKALB, Ill. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team will hit the road for the final time during the 2024-25 regular season, taking on Northern Illinois Tuesday night (March 4) in DeKalb, Ill. BGSU and NIU are set for a 7 p.m. EST tip inside Northern Illinois' Convocation Center, marking a key game in the final week of the regular season for the Falcons. The game will be aired on ESPN+ with Todd Walker adding a BGSU radio call on WFRO Eagle 99. 

Opening Tip
The Falcons and Huskies will be meeting for the 73rd time in program history with Bowling Green holding the all-time advantage with a record of 41-13. Bowling Green won the meeting earlier this season on Feb. 4, but NIU holds the edge when hosting the series with a record of 17-13. Bowling Green has won eight of the last nine meetings, including the last four in DeKalb, Ill. The matchup will feature two of the top scorers in the MAC. NIU's Quentin Jones leads the conference, averaging 17.1 points per game, while BGSU's Marcus Johnson is currently ranked fifth, averaging 15.8 points per game. 

A Bowling Green Win Would… 

• Sweep the season series over Northern Illinois for the Falcons. 
• Give the Falcons four-straight wins for the first time this season.
• Extend BGSU's road winning streak to four straight, the longest road winning streak for the Falcons since winning four consecutive road games during the 2020-21 season.  
• Grant the Orange and Brown wins in seven of their last nine. 
• Move BGSU back above .500 in MAC play during the Coach Simon Era at 18-17.  

Campbell Earns MAC Weekly Award
Javontae Campbell earned MAC Co-Player of the Week honors on Monday (March 3), his second time receiving the recognition. The award comes after Campbell extended his 20-point streak to five games. During the five-game stretch, the Falcons are 4-1 while Campbell is averaging 24.0 points per game, 4.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.6 steals. Campbell has been a key contributor to BGSU's stretch of at least one 20-point scorer in 10 of their last 12 games with a total of 12 20-point games during the stretch. 

Scouting The Huskies
Since the last meeting between BGSU and NIU, the Huskies have lost seven-straight, culminating in a 10-game losing streak entering Tuesday. Despite the results, they have nearly snapped the streak multiple times. NIU lost by just two to Louisiana (Feb. 8), lost in overtime to Ball State (Feb. 15), lost by three to Eastern Michigan (Feb. 22) and lost by four to Western Michigan (March 1). For the season, all five of their wins have come on their home court, including their lone MAC win, being a 76-66 victory over Ball State on Jan. 25. 

BGSU vs. Northern Illinois, All-Time
The Falcons and Huskies will be meeting for the 73rd time in program history with Bowling Green holding the all-time advantage at 41-31. This will be just the 31st visit to DeKalb for the Orange and Brown with NIU claiming a narrow advantage at 17-13. BGSU has won eight of the last nine meetings, including four-straight in DeKalb. In the meeting earlier this season, the Falcons led wire-to-wire behind a double-double from Marcus Johnson. The win jumpstarted BGSU's six-of-eight streak that they have been building since. 

Campbell Turns To MAC Record
Javontae Campbell tallied another three steals against Ball State, giving him 85 on the season. Having already snapped the BGSU single-season record, Campbell is now gaining ground in the MAC single-season rankings where he is tied for sixth. He is only two steals away from fifth and six away from fourth. The record is currently held by Ball State's Bonzie Wells who recorded 103 during the 1997-98 campaign. With two games left in the season, Campbell is averaging 2.93 steals per game, which ranks fourth in the nation. Any postseason stats would count towards the record. 

BGSU Crashing The Boards
Jamai Felt and Wilguens Jr. Exacte have been influential for the Falcons in the rebounding category. In the game against Ball State, Felt and Exacte both hauled in nine rebounds. For Felt, he leads the team in the stat for the season with 181 rebounds, including seven games with double-digit rebounds for the Falcons. As for Exacte, he's picked up his rebounding of late, especially on the offensive end. Over the last five games, Exacte is averaging 8.4 rebounds per game along with 3.4 offensive rebounds a game. 

Johnson At The Line
Marcus Johnson is currently in the midst of making 30 straight free throws, the longest active streak in the nation among players shooting at least 90-percent from the charity stripe. The last miss at the line for Johnson came against EMU on Jan. 18.  Going back a game further, Johnson has made 37 of his last 38 free throw attempts dating back to Jan. 14. The stretch has pushed Johnson's free throw percentage back above 90-percent, sitting at 91.0, which ranks first in the MAC and sixth in the nation. Last year, Johnson shot 90.8-percent at the line on 120 attempts for Wheeling. 

Looking At The MAC Standings
With two games left in the regular season, the MAC standings are witnessing a log jam in the middle. Only two teams, Akron (15-1) and Northern Illinois (1-15) are locked into their spots in the standings. All other 10 teams can still make moves with two games remaining. For Bowling Green, the Falcons enter the week tied for eighth with Ball State and just one game behind Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan. Depending on how results fall this week, the Falcons can still climb as high as sixth in the standings. 

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons' men's basketball team on social media
Twitter - @BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUMBB
Instagram - 'bgfalcons' and 'bgsumhoops'
Facebook - 'BGSU Athletics'
YouTube - 'Falcon Athletics'