NKU traveled to Knoxville for their second game of the season as they took on the 18th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers at the Food City Center on Saturday. NKU came out strong but ultimately fell short down the stretch, as the Volunteers defeated the Norse 95-56 in front of a packed house.
From the tip-off, the Norse showed they were not intimidated by the moment. They would trade baskets with the Volunteers for the first few minutes with the first seven points for NKU all coming from the senior Donovan Oday, the last basket being a fast break layup and-one that he was able to make happen despite being without a shoe on the play, as well as the prior defensive play. Northern Kentucky would continue to find their footing as Kael Robinson continued his hot shooting from the season opener with a three that gave the Norse an early 10-5 lead.
Tennessee would begin to get their bearings about them from that point. Starting with a 10-0 run behind threes from Ament and Bishop Boswell, followed up by back-to-back buckets in the paint from J.P. Estrella. Taking advantage of a size difference against an undersized Norse team. Estrella would score again before Ethan Burg and Ja’Kobi Gillespie would add to the home team advantage, sending NKU to the second media timeout down 23-12.
The back-and-forth efforts from both teams would continue as three triples from each team resulted in a 34-21 advantage for Tennessee. The size advantage would begin to become evident as the game neared halftime. Estrella would deliver a big man to big man alley-oop to fellow front court mate Cade Phillips. Estrella would then find himself adding two points to his total after securing two offensive rebounds in one possession, finishing it off with a tip in for two over the outstretched arms of the NKU defense. That would balloon the lead to 21 points.
Ament, the fourth ranked recruit according to ESPN, would continue the onslaught for the volunteers as he nailed another shot from deep. He would help his team secure a 52-31 lead going into halftime. Ament and Gillespie were a huge part of the first half offense, as they poured in 21 combined points compared to NKU’s 31 total points as a team at the half.
The offense for the Norse relied heavily on Oday and Robinson in the opening half as they nearly matched Ament and Gillespie, combining for 20 of those 31 first half points. One of the glaring differences in the first half was the size advantage for Tennessee. The Volunteers had already accumulated a 10 rebound advantage to that point, as well as a 20-10 point differential in the paint. The other difference being that Tennessee was able to score much more on the fast break. Despite a mere two turnover difference in the first half, the Volunteers outscored the Norse by 11 on fast break points.
The second half was much of the same as NKU was outscored 43-25 in the second half on the way to a 39 point loss. NKU struggled to defend the perimeter, allowing Tennessee to shoot 41% from deep. The size issue was apparent all night as NKU was out rebounded by 22. They also struggled to register assists, only managing 11 in this game compared to 26 in the home opener. The assists numbers are something head coach Darrin Horn said will determine the success of this team on a nightly basis.
One thing NKU can look at positively from a team aspect after this game was their hustle defense. Something that the Norse have always found their identity in was even impressive on a big stage as they were able to force Tennessee into 12 uncharacteristic turnovers.
NKU will have an opportunity to bounce back on Wednesday as they will stay in Tennessee to play ETSU. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN+.
