The Benedictine University men's basketball team now sits in third place of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings, possessing a 12-8 overall and 10-5 conference record. This week, the Eagles will take on conference-leading Aurora University on the road on Wednesday night and sixth-place Milwaukee School of Engineering on Saturday afternoon in the Dan and Ada Rice Center.
 
BenU dropped two games last week, giving the team its first two-game losing streak since mid-December. Benedictine fell to Concordia University Chicago 87-81 at home on Tuesday night before losing at Edgewood College 72-69 on Saturday. Michael Blaszczyk scored a total of 43 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the two defeats.
  
Aurora was picked to win the conference in the NACC preseason poll, and thus far, the Spartans have lived up to the expectations. For much of this season, Aurora has held the top spot in the NACC standings, losing only at home against Edgewood on December 13, at MSOE on January 7, and at Rockford University on January 27. The Spartans have built two different five-game win streaks this season and will come into Wednesday's matchup as winners of six out of the last seven contests.

The Eagles and Spartans played a tightly-contested game in Lisle back on December 2 of this season, with the Spartans pulling away late to win 76-69. Aurora shot 50.8% in the contest while holding the Eagles to 40.3% from the floor and 22.3% from beyond the arc. Over the past four seasons, BenU holds a 7-6 advantage over its conference rivals, but Aurora has won six of the last seven.
  
In what could be a preview of a first-round NACC Tournament matchup, the Eagles will host the Raiders of MSOE on Saturday. After finishing a combined 38-14 with a 27-9 NACC record over the past two seasons, the Raiders currently hold the sixth spot in the NACC standings and would face BenU in the NACC Tournament's first round if the current standings held true. MSOE is led by junior Austin Stueck, who leads the NACC in scoring at 19.8 points per game, earned DIII News Preseason All-American honors, and won the conference's Player of the Year award last season.

The Eagles and Raiders competed in one of the NACC's most exciting games earlier this season, with BenU coming out on top 62-61 in Milwaukee back on November 22. BenU trailed for most of the contest, and MSOE held a 61-56 lead with just 39 seconds left. However, Tim McGinty knocked down a three with 30 seconds remaining, and after a steal by Kevin Rollins, Tahron Harvey nailed a corner three with four seconds to go to give BenU the victory. Before the win in November, the Eagles last defeated MSOE in the 2011-12 season.