Miami, N. Illinois meet in MAC quarters

No. 12 seed Miami (13-19, 6-13) vs. No. 4 seed Northern Illinois (18-13, 11-7)

Mid-American Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland; Thursday, 1:30 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: A spot in the MAC semifinals is on the line as Miami and Northern Illinois prepare to face off. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last played on Feb. 15, when the RedHawks shot 46 percent from the field while holding Northern Illinois to just 39.6 percent en route to a five-point victory.

SAVVY SENIORS: Northern Illinois’ Eugene German, Lacey James and Noah McCarty have combined to account for 51 percent of the team’s scoring this season, including 47 percent of all Huskies points over the last five games.SOLID SIBANDE: Nike Sibande has connected on 32 percent of the 103 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 7 of 19 over the last five games. He’s also made 82 percent of his free throws this season.

WINLESS WHEN: Miami is 0-9 when scoring fewer than 62 points and 13-10 when scoring at least 62.

UNDEFEATED WHEN: The Huskies are 5-0 when at least four of their players score 10 or more points and 13-13 when any fewer than that achieve double-figures. The RedHawks are 5-0 when the team records at least eight steals and 8-19 when falling short of that total.

DID YOU KNOW: Northern Illinois is ranked second among MAC teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 31.1 percent. The Huskies have averaged 11.6 offensive boards per game.