Focused on winning, NKU’s McDonald leads Norse to Horizon League regular-season championship

By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter

Drew McDonald and his Northern Kentucky University teammates probably wanted to sneak a peek at what was going on Friday afternoon when Wright State was playing an early game at IUPUI.

After all, NKU and Wright State were tied for first place in the Horizon League with just two games remaining. NKU would not play until late Friday night against Illinois-Chicago. So was McDonald glued to the computer watching the Wright State/IUPUI game?

“We couldn’t control what Wright State did, and we were just focused on ourselves and UIC,” McDonald said Sunday night during NKU’s net-cutting ceremony at BB&T Arena. “Even though [Wright State] played that afternoon, we didn’t really watch the game. Coach [John Brannen] didn’t want us to watch it, he just wanted us to focus on what we needed to do because we were playing UIC that night.”

What the NKU players missed was a stunning 66-56 IUPUI upset over Wright State, a result that gave the Norse a half-game lead atop the standings. Hours later, NKU posted a 79-72 win at Illinois-Chicago to gain control of the Horizon League with one game remaining — on Sunday against the same IUPUI squad that had knocked off Wright State.

NKU embraced the opportunity, cruising to a 75-56 win over IUPUI and capturing the Horizon League regular-season title and No. 1 seed.

“Coming into today, we knew we controlled our own fate,” McDonald said Sunday night. “We came out and played really well. Played 40 minutes of very good basketball. We’re starting to play better, and we’re ascending. We don’t have to turn on a light switch to play well because we’re doing that now heading into the tournament.”

In the win Sunday, McDonald recorded his 16th double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds. He grabbed seven of those boards during the first half as NKU built a 32-17 lead at intermission.

NKU improved to 22-8 overall and claimed the Horizon League regular-season title with a 15-3 record. It marked the first regular-season crown for the Norse since becoming a Division I program.

The Norse did it the hard way, too. Getting every opponent’s “A” game can be physically demanding and emotionally draining. Watching teams drastically alter their style of play is also something NKU encountered this season after winning last year’s Horizon League Tournament championship and entering 2017-18 with lots of hype.

“We were under the radar somewhat last year, but this year we were ranked second in the preseason poll and we got everyone’s best shot,” McDonald said. “Every time we stepped on the floor, the team on the other side played as hard as they could. They gave us challenges, which is good because it made us a better basketball team.”

Top-seeded NKU begins play March 3 at Motor City Madness in Detroit, where the Norse will meet the Youngstown State/Cleveland State winner. Youngstown State (the No. 9 seed) and Cleveland State (the No. 8 seed) play on March 2.

NKU NET-CUTTING CEREMONY PHOTO GALLERY

HORIZON LEAGUE STANDINGS

Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport