'Our most complete game:' NKU rolls past Fort Wayne to stay in first place in Horizon
Northern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team won its third-straight game Saturday night at Truist Arena, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne 74-54.
NKU and Fort Wayne were picked as co-favorites in the league in the preseason. NKU is now 13-8 overall and 8-2 in the Horizon League, tied for first with Milwaukee, which comes to NKU Jan. 28. PFW is 13-8 and 5-5 in league play.
It was a rare breather after the Norse have had three-straight home games decided on the final possession, winning two of them.
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“I hope the fans don’t feel like they were cheated because we didn't give them overtime or a last second play that you know went one way or the other,” said NKU head coach Darrin Horn. “It's probably better for my health not to have that stress level every night but again, I think the more important thing is, regardless of the margin, it's good to see a more complete game in terms of start and finish on both ends.”
“It feels good to just play together for the whole 40 minutes and actually focus on defense. Our identity is defense,” said NKU sophomore Sam Vinson. “So we knew if we started doing that better than things like offensive transition would be better and we'll start getting out and running more. It honestly feels good not to have a tight game.”
NKU rolls in second half
NKU overwhelmed the Mastodons with 45 points in the second half. The Norse made 17-of-29 shots (58.6%) in the second half, hitting seven 3-pointers and shooting 10-of-14 from inside the arc.
NKU placed four players in double figures. Marques Warrick led with 18 points. Vinson posted 17 points, four assists and three steals. Trevon Faulkner had 14 points and four assists. Robinson finished with the 11 points. Xavier Rhodes posted nine points and three assists.
Warrick, a junior guard and NKU’s leading scorer at 19 points per game for the year, had only two points at halftime.
“There have been a lot of times where I've had, you know, just a couple of points, maybe even zero in the first half,” Warrick said. “Then I pop up second half and lead the team in scoring. So I'll just try to stay with that same mindset. Even when those shots aren't falling the first half, I know to stay confident.”
Said Horn: “I think the more important thing is that the way he scored in the second half. He was aggressive. He was ready to shoot and when he drove the ball, he drove it aggressively. I think it's more important about the way he's playing, because if he plays the right way, he's going to score the basketball. He's a really gifted scorer and we’re fortunate to have him. He's really important to our team.”
Defense dominates potent Mastodon offense
The Norse shut down one of the most potent teams in the Horizon League. The Mastodons came in averaging 75 points per game on offense and averaged nearly ten 3-point makes per game (199 in 20 contests).
The Norse limited the Mastodons to seven 3-pointers and their second-lowest scoring output of the season. Big Ten Conference teams Michigan (56) and Northwestern (52) had shut down PFW early in the season, plus Southern Miss (58) on Nov. 23. PFW had scored 70 or more points in 10 of its previous 12 games.
NKU forced 18 turnovers with its pressure defense.
“Defense is our identity,” Vinson said. “So you just want to get after them, dictate what they do. We work on that every day in practice. We went out there and we made them do things that they don't want to do. We made them uncomfortable and at the end of day we got a bunch of steals and we got out in transition for some easy buckets.”
Said Horn: “One thing about our defense that is pretty good is our traps are random. We don't set them like ‘Hey, every time this happens, we're going to go do this.’ Our guys have the freedom to go. I thought we were really aggressive in that tonight and did a good job of not fouling and not letting people out of those traps. They're very hard to prepare for. They run a lot of good stuff. They've got a lot of shooters, and so I think us being aggressive was a big key to us defending.”
Robinson steps up with season high
Hamilton graduate Trey Robinson matched his season high with 11 points. All of them came late in the first half on three 3-pointers and a layup. He accounted for 11 straight Norse points to lift the team from a three-point lead at 16-13 to an 11-point advantage at 27-16. PFW came no closer than six points after that.
Robinson started his 12th game and came in averaging five points per game.
“One of the things that that gives us an opportunity to be really good is that you know it doesn't have to be just Marquez or Trevon,” Horn said. “We have guys like Trey Robinson who can step in and get double figures and really impact the game. He’s playing with a lot more confidence and he's so impactful on the defensive end for us. And we're challenging to continue to be even better and even more disciplined on both ends of the floor.
NKU in first place at halfway point
NKU reaches the halfway point at 8-2 in the league, tied for first place with Milwaukee. Three other teams are within one game in the loss column.
Being in first place at the halfway point doesn’t mean much in March, when only the league tournament champion will get to play in the NCAA Tournament, but Horn said Saturday night's performance is a good sign as the team progresses toward the postseason.
“I'm not really worried about where we're placed,” Horn said. “I felt like our team was better tonight and that we improved. The one thing that our program has been able to do, regardless of where we're at after the first 10, in my time here is really get better as the season moves on. That's ultimately what we're trying to do. And of course we'd like to win a regular season championship. But it's more important that we're making progress along the way, and you know, I think we're we're doing that.”
Up next
NKU hosts Green Bay at 7 p.m. Thursday at Truist Arena, and Milwaukee at 4 p.m. Jan. 28 in rematches of games in Wisconsin last week. NKU beat Green Bay 74-53 after losing to Milwaukee 80-75.
Horizon League standings
1 (tie). NKU 8-2 (13-8)
1 (tie). Milwaukee 8-2 (14-6)
3 (tie). Youngstown State 7-3 (15-6)
3 (tie). Cleveland State 7-3 (12-9)
5. Oakland 6-3 (8-12)
6. Purdue Fort Wayne 5-5 (13-8)
7. Detroit Mercy 4-5 (8-12)
8 (tie). Wright State 4-6 (11-10)
8 (tie). Robert Morris 4-6 (9-12)
10. Green Bay 1-9 (2-19)
11. IUPUI 0-10 (3-18).
Oakland and Detroit play Monday night.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: NKU rolls past Purdue Fort Wayne to stay in first place in Horizon
