Kent State takes on Northern Illinois, seeks 9th straight home win

By Canadian Press on January 3, 2026.

Northern Illinois Huskies (5-8, 1-1 MAC) at Kent State Golden Flashes (10-3, 1-0 MAC)

Kent, Ohio; Saturday, 1 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Kent State hosts Northern Illinois aiming to continue its eight-game home winning streak.

The Golden Flashes are 7-1 in home games. Kent State scores 91.7 points while outscoring opponents by 10.4 points per game.

The Huskies are 1-1 in conference matchups. Northern Illinois is 3-0 when it wins the turnover battle and averages 14.0 turnovers per game.

Kent State is shooting 48.6% from the field this season, 0.1 percentage points higher than the 48.5% Northern Illinois allows to opponents. Northern Illinois averages 8.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.8 fewer made shots on average than the 10.3 per game Kent State allows.

The Golden Flashes and Huskies square off Saturday for the first time in MAC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Delrecco Gillespie is scoring 18.5 points per game and averaging 11.9 rebounds for the Golden Flashes. Jahari Williamson is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Makhai Valentine is averaging 12.3 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Huskies. Dylan Ducommun is averaging 11.9 points and 3.5 assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Flashes: 8-2, averaging 89.9 points, 36.7 rebounds, 18.6 assists, 8.0 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 49.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.5 points per game.

Huskies: 4-6, averaging 76.0 points, 34.5 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 7.0 steals and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 42.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.4 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press