Triumph over Jaguars keeps NKU in the hunt
The Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team faces a dire uphill battle as it relates to earning a favorable seed in the Horizon League post-season tournament. Sunday’s 80-64 home win over punchless IUPUI – on Senior Night and in front of 3,824 fans no less – gave the Norse just what they needed…a torch of hope in a cavern that is getting darker day after day.
The Jaguars (6-23, 2-16 HL) came to Truist Arena fresh off an eight-game losing streak and brutal loss at Oakland, where they got mauled by the Golden Grizzlies, 107-59. Outside of an early season win at Valparaiso (also currently 6-23 overall) and an unexpected mid-January win at Purdue Fort Wayne, their season has been as bleak as the day is long – a season that was essentially over before New Year’s Eve.
On the other end the spectrum, the Norse (16-13, 11-7 HL) – winners of five of their last six games – pressed the proverbial pedal to the floor in the first half Sunday and then cruised through the second half on their way to the 16-point win. It turns out, having Senior Night with the Jags in town is a pretty reliable way to showcase the team’s eldest players.
Seniors Trey Robinson (10 points – 14 rebounds – 3 assists), Marques Warrick (17 points – 3 assists) and grad student Michael Bradley (12 points – 1 steal) all used their time in the sun to shine with solid contributions in the win. While the seniors had a huge impact on the game, some lower classmen stepped up to have some of their most complete games of the season.
Sophomore wing LJ Wells tied his career high with 20 points on 70% shooting from the field to go along with his 6 rebounds. Freshman guard Randall Pettus II scored 7 points from the field on a 50% shooting clip to go along with his 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Freshman guard Jeramiah Israel netted 12 points, snagged 6 rebounds and chipped in 3 assists.
In a way it felt like a very clear “changing of the guard” night in which Wells showed he is near ready to step up for Robinson, Israel is on pace to take over for Warrick and Pettus II is getting very cozy with the idea of taking the reins from Bradley at season’s end. Freshman guard Fiston Ipassou (2 rebounds) and redshirt freshman forward Cesar Tchilombo (2 points – 2 rebounds) both got some much-needed minutes toward the end of the game, both producing well in their limited time on the court.
Notable Norse Numbers:
- The Norse…
- Scorched the Jags in the second-chance points category, outscoring the visitors 18-4 on extra-effort offense
- Shot the ball well from behind the arc, hitting on 8-of-20, good for 45% from deep
- Kept the Jags from establishing good position from deep, as IUPUI hit just 3-of-9 treys on the night. The Jags came in averaging 14.3 shot attempts per game from deep, but the aggressive Norse perimeter defense kept the visitors from finding ideal looks at the hoop
- Hit from 79% at the free throw line, sinking 11-of-14 attempts. The Jags struggled to find a groove at the charity stripe, hitting just 65.2% of their freebies
- Dominated the glass all night, outrebounding the Jags, 39-28. Of special note, 24 of the 39 rebounds came from underclassmen – that’s nearly 62% of the rebounding total
- Were the much deeper team, as the Norse bench outscoring its counterpart’s bench, 14-8
- Pulled away from the Jags at the 6:16 mark in the first half, pushing forward on an 18-4 run that extended the lead to 14 by halftime. The Jags kept pace with the Norse during the second half, but were never able to dig into the lead NKU built early on
The path moving forward is both tough and cloudy, as a very specific set of variables need to materialize in order for the Norse to lay claim to a coveted Top 4 seed in the end-of-season conference tourney.
In order to be in contention for home court advantage to start the tournament, the Norse must beat Robert Morris (10-19, 6-12 HL) on RMU’s home turf the evening of Wednesday, February 28. The Colonials are not having a good season, but they are a game off .500 at home this season and have shown they have the ability to play up to their competition at times.
Then on Saturday, March 2nd, they must win at Wright State (17-12, 12-6 HL) – the team directly in their path for the #4 seed – in the raucous Nutter Center in front of the conference’s best-drawing arena. Essentially, NKU needs to win their two last games and hope Wright State drops their February 28 home game against Purdue Fort Wayne before hosting the Norse a few days later.
There are legitimately four teams in position to win the regular season conference title with two games left in the season…the Norse are not one of those four. But this just shows how tight and full of parity the Horizon League is now…four teams battling to win it all, and NKU isn’t even one of them.
It’s truly a wild time to follow the HL, and as the old saying goes at HorizoneRoundtable.com, “Horizon’s Gonna Horizon.” This season is going down to the wire, so stay tuned!
Next Up:
Game 30: TV/Stream – ESPN+
Radio: ESPN1530 AM
NKU Norse @ Robert Morris – UPMC Events Center
Wednesday, Feb 28 – 7:00pm EST
Game 31: TV/Stream – ESPN+
Radio: ESPN1530 AM
NKU Norse @ Wright State – Nutter Center (Dayton, OH) Saturday, March 2 – 7:00pm EST
