This weekend's basketball games

Wisconsin Milwaukee, Northern Illinois and James Madison walk into a bar...

Uh, sorry, wrong context. Now if it was George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, well...

San Jose State University faces Wisconsin Milwaukee, Northern Illinois and James Madison this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday in back-to-back-to-back matchups as part of the NIU Invitational.

Milwaukee is a member of the Horizon League, with a four point loss to Loyola (Chicago) and a four point win over Davidson, both road contests, so far this season. 6-foot-8 sophomore Matt Tibby is positively stuck on 21 points having scored that amount in both games for the Panthers. He is also averaging 8.5 rebounds a contest.

As a team, they are shooting 28% from long distance and averaging 16 turnovers each night.

The coaches predicted WM as a ninth place finisher in 2013-14 and 5-foot-10 senior guard Jordan Aaron was awarded a pre-season spot as a Second Team honoree.

After four straight winning seasons, the Panthers dropped off to an 8-24 overall record last year.

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As for the hosts, Northern iIlinois has started the season with with a 68-66 home loss to Omaha, a game in which the former led until the final minutes. Mid America Conference members, the Huskies were paced by sophomore wing Darrell Bowie's 16 points plus 13 by sophomore guard Daveon Balls. Shooting 3-16 from long distance and 15-28 from the foul line waylaid the prospects for a win.

The pre-season media poll had Northern Illinois finishing fifth in the West Division of the conference.

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James Madison has played just once and that was a 20-point loss to Virginia, 61-41. 14 points was the JM halftime total. Colonial Athletic Association members, the Dukes received the prediction of a seventh place finish with sophomore guard Andre Nation selected as a Second Team All Leaguer although he won't be facing the Spartan due to a 16 game suspension.