VALPARAISO, Ind. – Northern Illinois started two true freshmen and two sophomores in Tuesday morning's game at Valparaiso.

On the other end, the Crusaders had five senior starters, and the experience showed as Valparaiso ran away with an easy, early-morning 69-46 win.

Despite shooting just 19 percent from the field in the first half, the Huskies (0-2) trailed by only six at the break. NIU had a lot of trouble getting open shots against the Valpo (2-0) defense, and too often the Huskies took poor shot attempts. NIU was 19-for-65 from the field (29 percent) for the game.