Feb. 4, 2008
DeKalb, Ill. - Northern Illinois head men's basketball coach Ricardo Patton will have a chance to revisit his roots on Sunday, February 24, as the Huskies will welcome his former employer, Tennessee State, for the sixth annual O'Reilly ESPNU Bracketbusters event for a 1 p.m. (CST) tip-off at the NIU Convocation Center.
Patton, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, served as an assistant coach for the Tigers from 1991-93. This is the second time that Patton has faced Tennessee State, as Colorado earned the 71-44 victory over the Tigers on December 19, 2003.
"Tennessee State is a very good basketball team that has beaten Illinois and had Vanderbilt down late in the ballgame," Patton said. "They are as talented as any team in the Ohio Valley Conference."
This will be the third meeting between Northern Illinois and Tennessee State with both teams winning one game. In their last meeting, NIU earned the 75-65 victory over the Tigers on December 19, 1988. In that game, NIU's Donnell Thomas paced the Huskie offensive attack with a double-double of 26 points and 14 rebounds.
Tennessee State is 10-13 overall and 7-7 in Ohio Valley Conference play. TSU junior guard Bruce Price leads the Tigers in scoring with 18.3 points-per-game, followed by freshman guard Gerald Robinson (15.2 ppg.) and junior forward Jerrell Houston (10.9 ppg.).
NIU (5-15) is led offensively by freshman guard Darion Anderson. Anderson is pouring in 10.1 points-per-game, while dishing out a team-best 2.5 assists.
The Huskies are back in action on Tuesday, February 5, as they welcome the University at Buffalo for a 7 p.m. (CST) tip-off at the NIU Convocation Center.
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