SATURDAY'S GAME: Miami travels to Northern Illinois for a 4:30 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 19. 

ABOUT NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies enter Saturday's game with a 7-16 overall record and 4-9 Mid-American Conference mark. NIU is coming off a 64-58 win at Ball State on Tuesday. Keshawn Williams paces the team at 16.4 ppg, while Trendon Hankerson is the other Huskie to score in double figures at 11.4 ppg. Anthony Crump leads the team on the boards at 5.1 rpg.
 
THE SERIES WITH THE HUSKIES: Saturday marks the 55th meeting between Miami and Northern Illinois with the RedHawks holding a 36-18 lead in the all-time series. Miami has won the last four meetings, including an 85-82 overtime win in Millett Hall earlier this year on Jan. 22. When playing in DeKalb, NIU is 14-11 against Miami. The RedHawks took the last meeting at the NIU Convocation Center, 69-64 on Jan. 20, 2021. NIU's last win in the series also was its last win against MU in DeKalb, a 70-55 triumph on Feb. 1, 2020.    

UP NEXT: Miami embarks on an action-packed week, playing three games in five days. The RedHawks host Buffalo at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22 before hosting Central Michigan on Thursday, Feb. 24. Miami then hits the road for a noon game at Toledo on Saturday, Feb. 26. The game will be aired on ESPNU.

TELEVISION: Saturday's game will be aired on ESPN3. Dave Bernhard and Mark Lindo will call the action.

RADIO: In its third year of its partnership with Van Wagner, the Miami Sports Network continues its coverage of Miami men's basketball with a group of affiliates blanketing most of Southwest Ohio and Southeast Indiana. Steve Baker and Terry Bridge will call the action. Tune-in to one of Miami's gameday affiliates:
WFMG-FM 101.3 (Richmond, Ind.)
WMOH-AM 1450 (Hamilton, Ohio)
WONE-AM 980 (Dayton, Ohio)

GRANT SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT: Junior guard Dae Dae Grant became the 39th player in program history to score 1,000 career points, achieving the feat on Feb. 12 against Bowling Green. He joins senior guard Mekhi Lairy and senior forward Dalonte Brown as the three active players to reach the milestone. Lairy scored his 1,000th career point on his final bucket during overtime in a thrilling 85-82 win against Northern Illinois on Jan. 22 earlier this season. Brown reached the milestone on Jan. 12, 2021 at Ohio and currently ranks ninth on Miami's all-time scoring list.

GRANT AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS: Junior guard Dae Dae Grant ranks among national leaders in assist/turnover ratio, ranking 32nd (2.45). 

STAND AND DELIVER: One of the most efficient free throw shooters in the conference, senior guard Mekhi Lairy leads the MAC in free-throw percentage in all games (.908) and conference only games (.927). As a team, Miami leads the MAC and ranks 10th nationally in free-throw percentage (.784). Lairy hit 29 consecutive free throws from Nov. 27 through Jan. 29. He has been perfect from the free-throw line in 14 of the 20 games where he has had a free-throw attempt. His .908 free throw percentage would rank first on Miami's single season list, while junior guard Dae Dae Grant's .873 free throw percentage would rank third. Grant was 10-for-11 from the line in the RedHawks' win against Western Michigan on Feb. 8, sinking a career high in free throws.

WELCOME BACK: For the first time in a long time, Miami had its full complement of players suited up to play on Saturday, Feb. 12 and again on Feb. 15. Senior forward Dalonte Brown made his return to the court last Saturday after suffering an injury in the first minute of the RedHawks' Jan. 25 game at Ball State. With the return of Brown, Miami went back to the starting lineup it had used in 17 games earlier this season. Senior forward James Beck also returned last Saturday, seeing 10:28 minutes of action against the Falcons. Although redshirt sophomore Javin Etzler has not seen action yet, he was suited up for the last two games. 

CRAZY EIGHTS: Three times this season junior guard Dae Dae Grant has recorded career highs of eight assists in a game (Nov. 20 vs. Heidelberg, Dec. 21 vs. Spalding, Jan. 29 vs. Eastern Michigan). Although Grant is MU's leading scorer at 17.1 ppg, he also leads the team in assists at 4.0 apg. He had 61 assists in 32 games as a freshman and 55 in 23 games as a sophomore. Through 25 games this season, he is at 98 assists.

BROWN BREAKS BOTH GAMES STARTED AND PLAYED CAREER RECORDS: Breaking Ron Harper's record of 118 for career starts with a start at Indiana State on Dec. 4 and Geovonie McKnight's record for career games played of 126 on Dec. 14, senior forward Dalonte Brown is now the Miami career record holder in both categories. Brown's 131 career starts and 138 career games played are the new Miami records. 

CHART CLIMBER: Senior forward Dalonte Brown is climbing several Miami career top-10 lists and continues to climb the points scored list. Here is where he stands entering Miami's next game:

• Starts: 131 (1st, set record Dec. 4)
• Games Played: 138 (1st, set record Dec. 14)
• 3-Point FG: 185 (6th, 1 away from No. 5)
• Rebounds: 794 (8th, 4 from No. 7, 5 from No. 6, 12 from No. 5)
• Scoring: 1,473 (9th, 17 from No. 8)

ODDS 'N ENDS

• Senior forward Precious Ayah amassed a career-high six blocked shots against Toledo on Jan. 11, tripling his previous career-high and tying for third on Miami's all-time, single-game chart. Ayah paced Miami in a nine-block performance as a team, which tied for sixth on the RedHawks' team single-game chart.
• Senior forward Precious Ayah leads the MAC in field goal percentage, shooting 66.4 percent from the floor. His current percentage would rank second on Miami's single-season list.
• Miami players have scored 20 or more points 17 times this season with junior guard Dae Dae Grant leading the way with nine 20-point scoring games. Senior guard Mekhi Lairy follows with five, senior forward Dalonte Brown has two and senior guard Isaiah Coleman-Lands has one. 
• Miami ranks among the top three in the MAC in 10 statistical categories, leading the league in four categories: free-throw percentage, 3-point field goals per game, fewest turnovers and turnovers per game. 
• Miami ranks among the top 20 nationally in three statistical categories, including ranking 10th in free throw percentage and 12th in turnovers per game and 19th in fewest turnovers. 
• Miami drained 15 three-pointers against Bowling Green on Jan. 8, which ties for fifth on the program's single-game charts. Earlier in the season, Miami hit 17 triples against Lamar, which ties for second all-time in a single game at Miami.