For the first time since joining the Atlantic Sun Conference nearly three years ago, the Northern Kentucky men’s basketball team has a major presence on the postseason all-conference awards list.
Jalen Billups and Tayler Persons were each named to the Atlantic Sun All-Conference second team, and Persons was tabbed A-Sun Freshman of the Year while also garnering recognition on the all-freshman team.
Billups has been a beast in the post during Atlantic Sun play, averaging 13.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game on his way to second-team honors. The junior forward is connecting on 74.5 percent of his shots against A-Sun opponents, a total that is nearly 20 percent better than anyone else in the league. On the season as a whole, Billups ranks third in the nation in shooting and leads the conference at 69.7 percent.
This marks the first-career postseason award for the Cincinnati native (Shroder HS).
Persons was named a second-team honoree and unanimous selection to the all-freshman squad en route to being named the conference’s Freshman of the Year. Northern Kentucky’s starting point guard has been a handful for opposing teams this season. He is the only player in the conference to rank in the top-10 in both scoring (9th, 13.1 ppg) and assists (6th, 3.7 apg) and top-20 in rebounding (20th, 4.5 rpg).
The Kokomo, Indiana (Kokomo HS), native garnered A-Sun Newcomer of the Week accolades three times this season.
Billups and Persons were instrumental in leading NKU to a 13-16 overall record and 7-7 mark in the A-Sun. The 13 wins are the most for the Norse since reclassifying to NCAA Division I prior to the 2013-14 season.
Northern Kentucky also earned the No. 4 seed in the A-Sun Championship and will host No. 5 Lipscomb on Tuesday, March 3, in NKU’s first-ever A-Sun tourney.
For information on NKU’s postseason, please visit NKUNorse.com/postseason.
From NKU Athletics