Scouting report

By Lindsey Willhite

Western Michigan (13-10, 6-4) at Northern Illinois (7-16, 3-8)

When: 7 p.m. at NIU Convocation Center

Radio:WKRS 1220-AM, WJOL 1340-AM, WLBK 1360-AM

The skinny: Though the Huskies are in the throes of a season-worst five-game losing streak, they’re not out of the MAC West race. They can pull within 2½ games of the lead if they can knock off the first-place Broncos tonight. Western Michigan edged NIU 82-80 on Matt Stainbrook’s last-second tip-in when the teams met Jan. 22 in Kalamazoo. That’s indicative of the Broncos’ play in close MAC games. They have two 2-point wins and two overtime wins while all of their league losses have been by at least 9 points. NIU senior guard Xavier Silas (24.2 ppg) jumped back to No. 2 in the national scoring rankings with his 34-point outburst Saturday against Kent State. Among the reasons Silas is so successful? He ranks second nationally in free throws made (168) — and there are just 42 players in the country who have more attempts than he has makes.