NKU began its four-game home stand Monday night as they took on the EKU Colonels. A back-and-forth game ended up going the way of the Norse in a 82-71 victory. This marks three straight wins for NKU and keeps them undefeated at home in the young season.
These teams that love to push pace and tempo were unable to do that due to missed shots to start. Both teams struggled in the first four minutes as the teams only combined for six points to that point as Northern Kentucky held a slim two point lead. NKU looked like they were pulling away from there. They went on an 8-0 run for a 12-2 lead behind a contested layup from Kael Robinson and triples from Donovan Oday and Dan Gherezgher.
The Colonels were not going to let NKU pull away that easy. Threes began to fall for the visiting team as Turner Buttry and Jackson Holt began to heat up which led the deficit to be cut to four. The teams traded baskets until back-to-back threes, the last of which from the logo, from Buttry gave Eastern Kentucky their first lead of the game at 22-20. The lead continued to exchange hands as both teams began to return to their normal shooting ways. EKU went to the locker room with a narrow 35-33 lead.
NKU head coach Darrin Horn was not happy with how the early shooting struggles impacted the team.
“We were not competing and playing defensively the way we need to. We really let that the shots weren’t going in affect everything else we did. They’re hard to play against, but I thought our guys let our offensive play affect our energy on both ends of the floor and we have to get better at that.”
The message was heard loud and clear at halftime. After five lead changes and four ties in the first half, Eastern Kentucky only held the lead once in the second half and that came in the opening minutes of the final half. Tae Dozier and LJ Wells helped NKU reclaim the lead from that point. Wells posted 12 of his 14 points in the second half. Buttry still refused to let EKU wither. He propelled the team to cut the deficit to four with just eight minutes to play.
The next stretch is where NKU played their best. Free throws from Oday and a triple from Gherezgher began to create separation for Northern Kentucky. All hope of a comeback was lost for the Colonels as Robinson nailed a jump hook and soon after sank a logo three to put the Norse up nine and finally create that insurmountable separation the home team had been looking for all night.
NKU was a completely different team in the closing half as they shot 57% overall and 39% from deep after the break, choosing to attack the paint more and shoot less from the perimeter. Senior LJ Wells said this was due to an ability to execute the game plan given at halftime.
“Well we knew we were going to win off stops. Offensively we had the advantage. We knew if we stayed aggressive in the paint and attacked, we could finish layups or get inside out threes.”
The Norse were able to create great opportunities for everyone as they had four players in double digits, all even scoring 14 or more. Wells said that is something that opens up so much.
“Anybody can score double digits. So it’s really no pressure to feel like you have to score. You can play without that pressure and trust your teammates.”
NKU continues its home stand with a matinee match-up on Wednesday against the Wofford Terriers. The tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN+.
Like Alex’s work? Support his work via Venmo: @Alex-Perez-103
Subscribe to our emails, and get our latest posts in your inbox, plus a weekly digest of everything we've published!
