Winners of four of its last six games, the Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team returns to BB&T Arena for a Monday night clash with Oakland.
The Norse won on the road, 90-73, when the two teams met just two weeks ago.
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (8-12 Overall, 4-5 Horizon League)
Oakland University Golden Grizzlies (14-8 Overall, 6-3 Horizon League)
Monday, Feb. 1 – 7 p.m. (ET)
BB&T Arena (9,400) in Highland Heights, Ky.
TV: ESPN3 with Brady Laber (Play-by-Play) and Brad Redford (Analysis)
Radio: 55KRC (550 AM) with Andrew Kappes (Play-by-Play) and Steve Moeller (Analysis)
Fast Break Points
• NKU pulled away for a 91-83 road-win over Detroit behind 25 points from G Cole Murray.
• NKU sits at 4-5 after making its first round through the Horizon League, good for sixth-place.
• In its two games in the Motor City this season against Oakland and Detroit, NKU is 2-0 and averaged 90.5 ppg.
• NKU is third in the Horizon League-only games in assists (14.9 apg), with G Lavone Holland II (4.3) ranking third, individually.
• Murray matched NKU’s single-game 3-point field-goal percentage record with a 7-for-8 (87.5%) effort against UIC.
• Two games later, Murray went 7-for-10 from deep en route to 25 points in NKU’s win at Detroit.
• Murray has had the hot hand from long range, shooting 47.2% (51-of-108) from behind the arc this year.
• In the last three games, Murray has made 73.7 percent (14-of-19) of his threes.
• F Jalen Billups and G Tyler White are climbing NKU’s all-time scoring list. Billups ranks 22nd w/ 1,092 points & White is No. 27 (977).
• Billups led the nation w/ 69.6% shooting last year, and is among the nation’s leaders (t-11th) at 63.6% (110-173) this year.
• Billups ranks among NKU’s all-time leaders in FG % (2nd, .635), blocks (5th, 122) & blocks per game (11th, 1.1).
• Billups’ career 63.5 percent shooting ranks t-22th all-time in the NCAA.
• Billups is averaging an impressive 1.58 points per field-goal attempt.
• White has 172-career threes, ranking 9th all-time at NKU.
• Holland is second on the team in scoring (11.7 ppg) and rebounds (5.5 rpg), but leads NKU in assists (4.3 apg).
• On Jan. 18, F Drew McDonald was named #HLMBB Freshman of the Week for the second time in a three-week window.
• McDonald registered his third double-double of the year with 17 points and 10 boards at Detroit.
• In Horizon League action, McDonald is averaging 12.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
NKU’s Murray named Horizon League Player of the Week
Northern Kentucky junior guard Cole Murray (Delphi, Ind./Delphi) has been named the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, while UIC freshman forward Dikembe Dixson (Freeport, Ill./Mingo Central [W. Va.]) has been named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week.
Murray garnered Player of the Week honors after scoring 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half as Northern Kentucky won at Detroit on Friday night. Murray connected on nine of his 14 field goal attempts in the game, including 7-of-10 from three-point range. He was 6-of-8 from the field in the second half.
The Norse were trailing by two points with 7:57 to play when Murray hit a three-pointer to put NKU ahead 71-70. Ninety seconds later Murray connected on another three-pointer to tie the game at 74. The game was still tied when Murray hit his third three-pointer of the half to put the Norse up 79-76 with 5:12 to play.
NKU would never trail again after that three-pointer. Murray hit his final three-pointer of the game with 3:26 to go, putting Northern Kentucky up 84-78, as the Norse sealed the win at the foul line, winning 91-83.
Murray has been deadly from long distance in NKU’s last three games as he has hit 14 of his 19 attempts from three-point range. In Horizon League contests only, Murray ranks third in the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 51 percent (30-of-59) and fourth in three-point field goals per game at 2.8.
From NKU Athletics