Four Norse reached double figures and the Northern Kentucky men’s basketball team won its 10th game of the season in an 81-70 victory at Detroit Mercy on Thursday night to open Horizon League play.
The win moves NKU to 10-4 on the year, while Detroit falls to 2-11.
STATS LEADERS
· Lavone Holland II carried the offensive load early, scoring the first nine points for NKU, and closed with 21.
· Cole Murray provided a second-half offensive explosion. He connected on six treys in the second frame and matched Holland’s 21 points.
· Drew McDonald added 12 points and six boards.
· Carson Williams gave NKU its fourth player in double figures with 10. He also pulled down seven boards.
· Jeff Garrett hauled in a game-high-tying eight boards.
Trailing 43-45 with 15 minutes left, Cole Murray went on a personal 9-3 run and ignited the Norse. NKU never trailed the rest of the way and built as much as an 18-point lead with three minutes to play.
Holland scored 11 points in the half, but an 8-1 run by Detroit sent NKU into the locker room trailing, 39-34. Holland opened with nine-straight Norse points to start the game as both teams came out firing on all cylinders.
McDonald’s three with just over 14 minutes remaining kick-started a 9-0 run and stretch where the Norse outscored the Titans, 16-4, to pull ahead 25-16.
The Norse shot 40 percent (12-of-30), but allowed the Titans to convert 52 percent (14-of-27). NKU owned the boards, 20-13.
After both teams traded buckets to open the second half, Murray caught fire and connected on three-straight threes in a span of 1:12 of game time.
Murray ended up connecting on six threes in the half, with all six coming within a six-minute segment. NKU converted 9-of-16 (56 percent) from long range in the half.
The Norse defense stiffened in the second half, limiting the Titans to 13-of-33 shooting (39 percent).
GAME NOTES
· The win is NKU’s 10th of the season, surpassing last year’s nine-win total in just the first game of the League season. There are at least 18 games left on the schedule.
· Northern Kentucky punished Detroit on the glass, 44-31, winning the rebounding battle for the 13th time in just 14 contests.
· Murray must really like Calihan Hall. In last season’s meeting at Detroit Mercy, he went off for 25 points behind 7-for-10 three-point shooting. Murray has now gone 14-for-22 (64 percent) from three in the two games in Calihan.
· NKU moves to 3-0 in Horizon League regular-season games in the Motor City, averaging 87.3 ppg in those contests over the last two seasons.
NEXT UP
The Norse continue play in the Horizon League and stay in the Detroit area for a matchup with Oakland on New Year’s Eve. Game time at the Blacktop at the O’rena in Rochester, Michigan, is at 3 p.m.
From NKU Athletics