Northern Illinois vs. Iowa men’s basketball glance: Time, live stream, game notes (Dec. 29, 2023)

What: Northern Illinois (6-5) at Iowa (7-5), men’s basketball

When/where: 6 p.m., Friday, Carver-Hawkeye Arena

TV: None

Livestream: B1G+ (subscription)

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

Series: Iowa leads, 9-0

What to know:

The Hawkeyes are finishing the nonconference portion of their schedule. They are 5-1 at home, averaging 97 points.

Freshman forward Ladji Dembele is expected to play Friday. He missed the last game with what was termed a lower-extremity injury. He scored a career-high nine points in his most-recent game, Dec. 16 against Florida A&M.

Iowa had three players — Brock Harding, Ben Krikke and Payton Sandfort — with double-doubles in their last game, a 103-81 win over UMBC on Dec. 20. The last previous time three Hawkeyes had double-doubles in a game was 2013.

Iowa’s 33 assists in that game was the second-most in program history.

The Hawkeyes have unusually balanced individual totals in assists. Harding and Tony Perkins have 40, Dasonte Bowen 39 and Sandfort 36.

Iowa’s average announced home crowd has been 8,834. Its lowest average since Carver-Hawkeye Arena opened in 1983 was 10,379, last season.

Northern Illinois’ last game was a 76-63 home loss to Northern Iowa on Dec. 21. The Huskies lost 89-67 at Northwestern on Nov. 27. They have lost their last four games against Division I teams.

NIU is a strong contender for the nation’s All-Names Team. Among its starters are Xavier Amos, Philmon Ghebrewhit, Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Zarique Nutter. The other starter, David Coit, is the team’s leading scorer at 17.7 points per game.

The Huskies haven’t played in an NCAA tournament since 1996 and haven’t won a Mid-American Conference tourney since 1982.