Led by former Kentucky high school star, NKU pushes No. 1 seed to limit in NCAA tourney

The Northern Kentucky men’s basketball team is still without an NCAA Tournament win at the Division I level, but the Norse should feel awfully proud of their effort toward that goal Thursday night.

No. 16 seed NKU put a legit scare into No. 1 seed Houston, one of the pre-NCAA Tournament favorites to win the national championship.

Houston’s eventual double-digit 63-52 win over Northern Kentucky was not indicative of the tight nature of the game, which was played at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Norse led for more than five minutes in the first half and were tied with the Cougars with less than 14 minutes remaining in the game.

Houston didn’t establish its first double-digit lead of the game until there was 7:07 left to play. With 3:36 left, NKU was down only two possessions.

“In a lot of ways, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say we outplayed Houston tonight. We just didn’t make enough shots,” Northern Kentucky head coach Darrin Horn said. “We thought that this was a game, especially as the game went on, that we could win, and would win. Just didn’t make enough shots.”

Remarkably, Northern Kentucky came within touching distance of only the second ever 16 seed-over-1 seed NCAA Tournament upset, despite having uncharacteristically bad showings from both an individual player and team perspective.

NKU’s leading scorer Marques Warrick (a former high school star in Lexington at Henry Clay who entered Thursday’s game averaging 19.1 points per game) went 2-for-18 from the field and scored only nine points.

As a team, the Norse went 5-for-33 (15.2%) from three-point range.

“For us to hang in the game the way we did, and with Marques having the tough offensive night that he had. I kept thinking we were going to break through at some point and enough of those were going to go down at the right time,” Horn said. “We just weren’t able to make them.”

These two statistical outliers combined to negate a quality defensive effort from the Norse, as well as another homegrown NKU player who delivered on the big stage.

Northern Kentucky forced 17 turnovers by Houston. NKU committed only seven itself, and held a 13-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Sophomore guard Sam Vinson — the 2021 Gatorade Kentucky Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year and a state champion in the same year with Highlands — led the Norse in scoring with 15 points, and also pulled down eight rebounds.

Houston native and NKU fifth-year forward Chris Brandon led all players with 14 rebounds, including seven offensive boards.

Northern Kentucky’s 2022-23 season ends with a 22-13 overall record. The Norse have won the Horizon League Tournament to secure the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in four of the last seven seasons.

“I took this job to win an NCAA Tournament. I make no bones about that,” Horn said. “Winning the conference tournament every year, we embrace that. That’s much easier said than done. That’s why we’re here. I think we showed tonight, not only with our following but what our guys played, we’re getting closer to being able to do that.”

Star Houston senior guard Marcus Sasser re-aggravated a groin injury near the end of the first half and didn’t play in the second half of Thursday night’s win over NKU.

Houston will face No. 9 seed Auburn in the second round on Saturday night in Birmingham.

NKU’s history in Division I NCAA Tournament

Northern Kentucky is still in search of the school’s first NCAA Tournament win in men’s basketball at the Division I level.

The Norse are now 0-3 in NCAA Tournament games. NKU also qualified for the 2020 NCAA Tournament that was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

▪ 2017: No. 15 seed Northern Kentucky lost to No. 2 seed Kentucky, 79-70.

▪ 2019: No. 14 seed Northern Kentucky lost to No. 3 seed Texas Tech, 72-57.

▪ 2023: No. 16 seed Northern Kentucky lost to No. 1 seed Houston, 63-52.