Northern Illinois holds off Idaho men for 2-0 start

DEKALB, Ill. – Aaric Armstead and Darrell Bowie scored 16 points apiece and Northern Illinois beat Idaho 78-67 Thursday night in men’s basketball nonconference play, denying Vandals coach Don Verlin his 100th career win.

Travon Baker scored 14, Jordan Threloff 11, and the Huskies (2-0) outshot the Vandals 51 percent to 42.9 percent.

It is the first 2-0 start for the Huskies since 2006-07.

Sekou Wiggs scored 18 for Idaho (2-1.) Mike Scott added 17 points and Bira Seck grabbed 11 rebounds.

Idaho led 17-16 on a free throw by Ty Egbert, but Chuks Iroegbu’s 3-pointer sparked a 10-2 NIU run and the Huskies led 39-27 at halftime.

Idaho drew to within 41-36 after a 9-0 run in the second half, but Armstead hit three 3-pointers in building a 14-point NIU lead. The Vandals closed to within 61-56 at 8:43 on a jumper by Scott, but NIU rallied again with 10 free throws down the stretch.